Philippine president says 7 suspects in corruption scandal have been detained, others being sought
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine authorities detained seven suspects and were being sought for several more. major corruption scandal President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. He said Monday he was trying to quell public anger over brazen anomalies involving flood-control projects involving powerful members of Congress.
Massive corruption has been blamed for substandard or nonexistent flood control projects that have long been at risk of flooding in this poverty-stricken Southeast Asian nation. deadly flood and extreme weather conditions. Including two Philippine presidents Marcos’ late fatherThey were overthrown by peaceful popular uprisings over allegations of looting and mismanagement.
The first group of more than a dozen suspects, including former House member Zaldy Co and government public works engineers, were indicted by the Sandiganbayan, a special anti-corruption court, in the first of dozens of crime and corruption cases in which Marcos vowed to arrest relevant senators, House members and wealthy construction company owners by Christmas.
The first corruption case involved Sunwest Corp., a construction firm that authorities said was owned by Co’s family. It involved irregularities in flood control projects in the province of Oriental Mindoro, including a 289 million pesos ($4.8 million) river canal undertaken by .
One suspect was arrested and six others surrendered to police over the weekend, Marcos said. He said the arrested suspect was found in a house in a suburb of the capital’s Quezon City, where an undetermined number of people who tried to help the suspect hide were also arrested.
“My advice to the remaining suspects is that you all surrender, do not wait to be pursued,” Marcos said in a Facebook post early Monday. “This will continue, we will not stop”
Witnesses at Senate hearings and an independent investigative commission set up by Marcos testified that many former and current senators and House members, received large commissions A favorite construction company that has been cornering lucrative flood control contracts for years. A number of Department of Public Works and Highways officials and engineers testified under oath at Senate hearings that they helped organize corrupt deals and earned large sums of money doing so.
The luxurious lifestyles, mansions, suitcases full of money, luxury car fleets and private jets of the leading corruption suspects have sparked major protests. The dominant Roman Catholic church supports the demonstration planned to be held on November 30.
Those charged include Rep. Martin Romualdez, the president’s cousin and key ally, who has denied any involvement but resigned as House speaker. Former Senate President Chiz Escudero was also accused of kickbacks and resigned from office, but has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
Aides have defended Marcos against allegations linking him to improprieties, saying Marcos first raised the alarm about the issue in his annual address to the nation before Congress in July.
At least 9,855 flood control projects worth more than 545 billion pesos ($9 billion) are under investigation, expected to be accomplished since Marcos takes office in mid-2022. In September, Finance Minister Ralph Recto told lawmakers that up to 118.5 billion pesos ($2 billion) for flood control projects may have been corruptly diverted since 2023.
The anomalies may have begun under Marcos’ predecessor. Rodrigo DuterteFlood control projects carried out during his time will also be investigated, officials said.
