A lineup of the biggest fish, including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., must be investigated to provide closure to the “Floodgate” scandal, the minority bloc in the House of Representatives said on Wednesday.
The individuals sought to be investigated include the President, House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos, former Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, and former Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman who are not yet the subjects of the ongoing probes.
The opposition in the House urged the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to broaden its investigation and ensure that it will not spare anyone who should be held accountable.
“Public outrage has steadily been mounting against the widespread and systematic corruption in the government. However, more than 100 days have passed since the investigations began but nobody has been jailed,” the legislators said in a letter addressed to ICI Chairman Andres Reyes Jr.
They cited the recent revelations of former House appropriations committee chairperson Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co claiming that President Marcos ordered a budget insertion of P100 billion into the proposed General Appropriations Act of 2025.
Corruption vortex
“Recent revelations point to Malacañang as being at the center of the corrupt operations,” the members of the House minority said.
Among the minority representatives were Deputy Minority Leader Antonio Tinio, House Assistant Minority Leader Renee Co and Gabriela Partylist Rep. Sarah Elago, who filed House Resolution 515 urging an urgent investigation into the influential individuals.
In addition, the minority bloc urged the ICI to livestream all of its proceedings and to lift all restrictive guidelines they perceive as impeding the public’s and media’s access to information about the investigations.
“All involved should be held accountable. The Filipino people demand that all officials involved in corruption in the past and present administrations be made accountable,” the minority bloc said.