PBBM stance boosts Senate push vs. flood control scam – Hontiveros

By Wilnard Bacelonia, Philippine News Agency

FILE: FLOOD CONTROL LIST. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., in a press briefing in Malacañang on Monday (Aug. 11, 2025). (Photo: Bongbong Marcos/Facebook)

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s assurance that even his allies will not be spared from the flood control scam investigation would strengthen accountability efforts, Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros said Monday.

Hontiveros noted that the Chief Executive’s statement reinforces the call to prosecute officials implicated in multi-billion-peso scams and to blacklist contractors involved in anomalous projects.

She added that officials who obstruct investigations should likewise face charges.

“Ngayon, si Presidente mismo ang nagsabi na kahit kaalyado niya ay di niya tatantanan. Simple lang dapat: Kapag sangkot ka sa flood control scam, mananagot ka (Now, the President himself said that even his allies will not be spared. It should be simple: If you are involved in the flood control scam, you must be held accountable),” Hontiveros said in a statement.

The senator also called for a coordinated probe by the Commission on Audit, Office of the Ombudsman and Department of Justice to trace the money trail and identify those behind the anomalous projects.

She welcomed the support of local officials speaking out against the irregularities and vowed to push for safeguards in the 2026 national budget to block similar scams.

Hontiveros vowed to push for safeguards in next year’s national budget to prevent similar anomalies from slipping through.