The federal government must strengthen efforts to carry those potentially involved within the flood control scandal accountable, as public trust wanes amid allegations which have reached even the President, in line with 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 for the reason that issue emerged as a nationwide concern in July, it must do more in catching the “larger fish,” which, based on recent probe hearings, look like the lawmakers.
“To step up more means turning the evidence and documents they said they gathered from interviews into actual arrests. They’ve began, but the main target has been on smaller people,” Mr. Manhit said on the sidelines of BusinessWorld Forecast 2026 in Taguig City on Tuesday.
“Once we start seeing top officials being charged with enough documents that could lead on to actual convictions, possibly—possibly not immediately—then trust in the federal government will slowly start to construct,” he added.
Within 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 federal 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 each the chairman of the Appropriations Committee and a recipient of those funds. So, I put him aside by way of credibility,” he said. “But when he has documents that may prove his allegations, that will be a unique 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 value of insertions within the 2023 budget, which ballooned to P20.174 billion in 2024 and P21.127 billion in 2025.
This follows the primary a part of his video released Nov. 14, wherein he claimed that President Marcos ordered the insertion of P100 billion value of projects into the 2025 national budget.
Mr. Manhit said that if evidence shows the President as an accomplice, he ought to be held accountable, and responsibility should cascade down the road.
Aside from accountability, the federal government may regain the people’s trust through public services akin to 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, akin to the Freedom of Information Act.
“There appears to be a robust clamor for it to get passed. I actually hope that we will probably be the primary Congress to have the ability to pass this,” he told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the forum.
If passed, he said it will expand the transparency portal just like 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 to ensure that us to do that properly, government agencies have to offer access to their data and ensure good interagency sharing of data,” he added.
He also said the necessity to pass the Blockchain in National Budget Bill and implement the usage of Artificial Intelligence to combat corruption. — Edg Adrian A. Eva