Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos delivers his speech during the State of the Nation Address at the House of Representatives in Manila on July 28, 2025. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)
Manila: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday ordered a review of flood control projects built over the past three years, following recent flooding caused by consecutive tropical storms and the enhanced southwest monsoon.
In his 4th State of the Nation Address, Marcos ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways to submit a comprehensive list of all flood control projects in the last three years.
The list will be examined by the regional project monitoring committee that will report "those that have been failures, those that were not finished, and those that are alleged to be ghost projects," Marcos said.
Marcos said the list will be published for public scrutiny. "At the same time, there will be an audit and performance review regarding these projects to check and make sure and to know how your money was spent."
Marcos said he has personally seen the sloppy flood control projects, and in some cases, even failed projects, when he visited and inspected the communities hit by flooding.
"Let's stop pretending. The public is aware that there was racketeering involved in these projects, so to those who conspired to take the public funds and to rob the future of our citizens, you should be ashamed," he said, vowing to hold all responsible parties accountable.
An average of 20 typhoons lash the Philippines yearly. The archipelago is prone to tropical cyclones, which trigger heavy rains, flooding, and strong winds, resulting in casualties and destruction of crops and properties.
