Vice President Sara Duterte described the current administration's investigation into the anomalous flood control projects as "too little and too late," saying that flood control corruption shouldn't be blamed solely on the administration of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, as this already happened in previous administrations and even continues now.
"Well, sabi ko nga ‘no, too little too late ‘yung administration. Alam naman na natin yung problema na corruption sa flood control. Hindi lang sa administration na ito, sa lahat ng mga dumaan na administrasyon, hindi lang sa administrasyon ni Pangulong Duterte, alam na natin yan lahat," Duterte said in an interview in The Hague, Netherlands on Monday, 1 September.
"Naging mayor ako 2010, meron ng issue ng flood control corruption. And worse, mas worse lang sa atin ngayon. Dahil sinasabi ko nga, hindi lang naman flood control projects ‘yung merong corruptions," Duterte, a former Davao City mayor, added.
Duterte, a former Education Secretary, earlier claimed that some members of the House of Representatives bypassed the Department of Education and directly allocated school building funds.
In 2024, Duterte resigned as DepEd secretary and vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
"As early as 2024, noong nag-resign ako sa Department of Education, matagal ko pinag-isipan ‘yun kung mag-re-resign ba ako at sasabihin ko ba kung ano ‘yung mga experiences ko as Secretary ng Department of Education. And then, nag-decide ako na magsalita talaga kung bakit," Duterte said.
"Sinabi ko nga, in-attach yung --- pinaghati-hatian ng members of the House of Representatives ang school building program budget ng Department of Education. At hindi lang yun, in-attach pa nila yung listahan doon sa House version ng GAB [General Appropriations Bill]," the Vice President added.
Duterte expressed doubts about the ongoing investigation into the anomalous flood control projects, saying President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. already knew about it as this was being discussed during a meeting in Malacañang.
"Alam yun ni President Marcos. Alam niya yun kasi tinake-up din yun during a meeting in Malacanang. Pero he looked the other way. Magdududa ka kung bakit bigla ngayon ay merong silang palabas ng malaking investigation ng flood control projects. Ibig sabihin meron na naman siguro silang niluluto na behind the scenes—na siyempre hindi natin nakikita dahil lahat tayo nakatutok doon sa flood control corruption," Duterte said.
"Kung seryoso lang talaga ang Presidente, tapos na yan isang araw lang, matuturo niya lahat ng may kagagawan ng corruption sa budget. Pero, well, as you can see, para ngang nanonood tayo ng zarzuela," the Vice President added.