ACTING Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte said President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. should already have filed a case if the contractors he flagged are truly involved in questionable dealings.
Marcos earlier expressed concern that only a small group of contractors is handling the country’s big-ticket infrastructure projects.
“Wala yan, knowing him, sila-sila lang yan mga oligarko. I think he just want to, bring his people to the negotiating table para mahawakan niya (That’s nothing—knowing him, it’s just the oligarchs. I think he just wants to bring his people to the negotiating table so he can have control over them),” Duterte said in his Basta Dabawenyo podcast on Sunday, August 17.
He cast doubt that the President would pursue legal action, questioning why, if Marcos already has evidence, no case has been filed.
“Tingnan natin kung hanggang saan kaya yung commitment nila, ang presidente, the other political parties, tong mga congressman, kung ano ba talaga ang isasagot nila sa issue (Let’s see how far the President, other political parties, and these congressmen will go—and what their real response will be to the issue),” he said.
According to Duterte, filing a case would prove to Filipinos that the issue is genuine and not just political theater. So far, he said, Marcos has only told the public there is a problem without showing intent to solve it.
Duterte also accused the administration of diverting public attention from one controversy to another—citing the People’s Initiative and now Charter Change. He dismissed the President’s newly launched transparency website as “drama,” saying real evidence should be brought to court.
Reacting to House Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos, who said Congress cannot investigate the flood project issue because some members are allegedly involved, Duterte remarked it only showed “how dirty their dealings are.”
Sandro later called for a third-party probe into the alleged anomalies in the flood mitigation projects.
Duterte said that the administration has long been aware of the issue, especially since the President himself admitted it.
Earlier, Marcos revealed that 18 percent of the P545 billion flood mitigation budget under his administration from July 2022 to May 2025 went to just 15 out of 2,409 accredited contractors.(RGP)