An opposition lawmaker on Thursday blasted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for failing to deliver to send the masterminds of the multi-billion-peso flood control scam behind bars before Christmas, saying his assertions became another “press release.”

Kamanggagawa Rep. Eli San Fernando issued the scathing remarks following what he called the administration’s failure to jail top and influential government officials who amassed billions of public funds through fraudulent flood control projects despite months of non-stop investigations, congressional hearings, and public briefings.

“What happened to the president’s boast that he would send them to prison this Christmas? Since the ghost and anomalous flood control projects have been exposed, all we’ve heard is nothing but press releases,” he said.

Photo ops, too

“[He] has been posing for the camera, acting brave and undaunted, but when it comes to outcomes, nothing. While the people are being flooded and struggling with the hardships of life, the administration is drowning us in promises,” he added.

Marcos has repeatedly vowed that the figures involved in the corruption scheme will face a grim holiday as charges are underway. Christmas came and went without the promise being fulfilled.

To date, no top-level politician implicated has been jailed, not even resigned lawmaker Elizaldy Co, who is the subject of a warrant. 

The whereabouts of Co, who is being tagged as the central figure in the purported kickback scheme, remains unknown despite the government’s alleged exhaustive efforts to trace him. 

The Sandiganbayan has already declared the embattled ex-solon a fugitive from justice, along with the board members of Sunwest Inc., the firm — still allegedly owned by Co — that bagged nearly 80 government projects worth over P10 billion from July 2022 to May this year.