Government must hold flood control scandal accomplices accountable to restore public trust, says Stratbase

The government must strengthen efforts to hold those potentially involved in the flood control scandal accountable, as public trust wanes amid allegations that have reached even the President, according to a top official of Stratbase ADR Institute. 

Victor Andres D. Manhit, president of Stratbase ADR Institute, made this remark, noting that although the Marcos administration has done enough since the issue emerged as a nationwide concern in July, it needs to do more in catching the “bigger fish,” which, based on recent probe hearings, appear to be the lawmakers. 

“To step up more means turning the evidence and documents they said they gathered from interviews into actual arrests. They have started, but the focus has been on smaller people,” Mr. Manhit said on the sidelines of BusinessWorld Forecast 2026 in Taguig City on Tuesday. 

“When we start seeing top officials being charged with enough documents that could lead to actual convictions, possibly—maybe not immediately—then trust in the government will slowly start to build,” he added. 

In the Sept. 27 to 30 survey released by Pulse Asia, 69 percent of respondents disapproved of how the Marcos administration handles issues related to graft and corruption, up from 50 percent in June. Only 17 percent of respondents approved of the government’s actions. 

When asked if the survey may further decline amid the series of allegations thrown at President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. by former lawmaker Elizaldy S. Co, Mr. Manhit said that he must first provide proof for his allegations. 

“My concern with Co as a whistleblower is that he was both the chairman of the Appropriations Committee and a recipient of these funds. So, I put him aside in terms of credibility,” he said. “But if he has documents that can prove his allegations, that would be a different game.” 

In a recent video posted on his social media page on Tuesday, Mr. Co implicated presidential son and House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos for making P9.636 billion worth of insertions in the 2023 budget, which ballooned to P20.174 billion in 2024 and P21.127 billion in 2025. 

This follows the first part of his video released Nov. 14, in which he claimed that President Marcos ordered the insertion of P100 billion worth of projects into the 2025 national budget. 

Mr. Manhit said that if evidence shows the President as an accomplice, he should be held accountable, and responsibility should cascade down the line. 

Apart from accountability, the government can also regain the people’s trust through public services such as infrastructure, particularly flood control projects, which should address the country’s recurring flooding issues. 

Meanwhile, FPJ Panday Bayanihan representative Brian P. Llamanzares emphasized the importance of passing anti-corruption measures, such as the Freedom of Information Act. 

“There seems to be a strong clamor for it to get passed. I really hope that we will be the first Congress to be able to pass this,” he told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the forum. 

If passed, he said it would expand the transparency portal similar to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) system, where all agency project details are made publicly available—a platform launched just last week. 

“But in order for us to do this properly, government agencies have to provide access to their data and ensure good interagency sharing of information,” he added. 

He also said the need to pass the Blockchain in National Budget Bill and implement the use of Artificial Intelligence to combat corruption. — Edg Adrian A. Eva