The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has opened an investigation into “unusually large flows of cash” that may be linked to the flood control corruption scandal, BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said in a television interview aired Friday.
“This flood control scandal was as much of a shock to us as it was to you. But we're working hard to fix things,” Remolona said. “We're making a lot of inquiries. We're trying to identify the big flows of cash throughout the financial systems, the unusually large flows of cash. But not just cash, any financial transaction that looks unusual.”
He noted that many flagged transactions appear to have passed through government-owned financial institutions, consistent with how public infrastructure funds move.
“That makes sense because it's government money so it will go through government financial institutions. So that's what we've seen so far," he said. Remolona added he was stunned by the alleged scale: “The amounts involved. We had no idea. I think you and I, we knew there was corruption all along, right? But not on this scale. And the site of the piles of cash on a table. That's kind of shocking. I didn't know this was all done in cash and in such amounts. So that is shocking."
The probe follows BSP Circular No. 1218, Series of 2025, which took effect on 18 September and tightens controls on large cash dealings. All transactions above P500,000 (or foreign-currency equivalent) must now use traceable channels such as bank checks, online transfers, direct credits to accounts, or digital payments.
"We want to make it more difficult for the contractors, for the guys involved in this flood control mess to be able to take money out of the banks," Remolona said.
The inquiry runs alongside other investigations sparked by Senate hearings that alleged massive kickbacks in flood control projects, with probes also underway by the Office of the Ombudsman and the Commission on Audit.