Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday that authorities had recovered, frozen or preserved nearly 25 billion pesos in money and assets linked to accused participants in a flood-control corruption scandal. In his fifth State of the Nation Address before Congress in Quezon City, he said more than 800 million pesos had already returned to the Treasury and promised that all further recoveries would go back to public funds.
Marcos said contractors, senior Public Works officials and lawmakers were among the first people charged and detained after investigations into defective, fictitious or overpriced projects. He attributed the continuing prosecutions to the Ombudsman and a strengthened National Prosecution Service, while saying the Public Works department had begun reforms covering project need, pricing and execution. A transparency portal, an integrity monitoring system and civil-society participation would track projects and budgets, according to the address.
The president also linked the anti-corruption campaign to relief from the economic effects of the Middle East conflict. He said the government had transferred nearly 58 billion pesos in additional funding to local authorities, repatriated more than 12,000 Filipinos and provided aid to over 140,000 overseas workers affected by the fighting. He said diversified oil purchases had secured almost two months of supply despite disruption around the Strait of Hormuz.
Among the measures described by Marcos were a three-month suspension of excise taxes on liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene, limits on increases in imported-rice prices and extended loan-payment periods. He also asked Congress to support infrastructure and transport plans, including rail openings, stronger evacuation centres and an updated building code, and said money protected from corrupt schemes had been redirected toward education, food and health services.
The speech came amid intense political pressure. AP reported that more than 23,000 police guarded the area as protesters gathered, while a corruption scandal implicated public officials and allies of the president. Vice President Sara Duterte, a former Marcos ally, is separately facing an impeachment trial and denies wrongdoing. Marcos has two years remaining in his single six-year term, making implementation and independent court outcomes central tests of the promises he presented.
Marcos also reaffirmed that the Philippines would defend the binding 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling through peaceful and legal means. His government will now face scrutiny over whether recovered assets reach the Treasury, whether additional defendants are charged on evidence, and whether announced relief and infrastructure measures translate into lower costs and more reliable public services.
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