PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has ordered the reimplementation of a policy requiring local government units (LGUs) to accept the completion of national government projects in their areas.
In a press conference Monday, September 15, 2025, Marcos said the policy, which he described as “one of the best safeguards” to prevent corruption such as bogus flood control programs, was removed under the previous administration.
“Tinanggal na ‘yung rule na 'pag may project ang national sa LGU, 'pag tapos na ang project, dapat i-accept nung mayor, governor hanggang barangay captain. Kailangan tanggapin yan. Titignan nila and this is an important safeguard dahil pagka nasa LGU yan, hindi po pinagkakakitaan ang project. Maliwanag, titignan mo dapat kung tama,” Marcos said.
(The rule was removed that when the national government has a project in an LGU, once the project is completed, it must be accepted by the mayor, governor, down to the barangay captain. They need to accept it and review it, and this is an important safeguard because when it’s under the LGU, the project is not used for profit. It’s clear, you have to check if it was done properly.)
"We are putting it back because that is one of the best safeguards that we have. So, that is essentially the situation as it stands. We are trying to move as quickly as possible,” he added.
Marcos said the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), which he created to investigate anomalous flood control projects, may also propose reforms intended to strengthen systems against corruption.
"Ngayon, we have to find out how this happened, and what changes we need to make so that we turn this into an inflection point in terms of how government does its business — and to make sure that the funds that belong to the people are well spent, properly spent, to the advantage of all of us, to the advantage of the economy, and to the advantage of those in danger areas," the President said.
(Ngayon, we have to find out how this happened and what changes we need to make so that we turn this into an inflection point in terms of how government does its business — and to make sure that the funds that belong to the people are well spent, properly spent, to the advantage of all of us, to the advantage of the economy, and to the advantage of those in danger areas.)
Marcos earlier inspected several flood control projects that were either substandard or non-existent, even though they were tagged as completed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and fully paid to contractors.
He said contractors found to have committed irregularities may face legal action but may also still be compelled to finish the projects correctly.
“Para sa akin, kailangang buuin nila iyong project dahil kung titingnan ninyo, may warranty lahat iyang project na iyan. Kahit sinabi nilang completed, kapag nadiskubre na hindi tama ang pagkagawa they still have to respect, they still have to honor the warranty that they have given us to complete the project properly. So, we can still go back to them at sasabihin natin sa kanila, ‘balikan ninyo iyong walang kuwentang project na ginawa ninyo at ayusin ninyo na maganda, out of your own pocket,’ number one,” Marcos said.
(For me, they must complete the project because, as you can see, every project has a warranty. Even if they claim it is completed, once it is discovered that the work was not done properly, they still have to respect and honor the warranty they gave us to finish the project correctly. So, we can still go back to them and tell them, ‘go back to that worthless project you made and fix it properly, out of your own pocket,’ number one.)
“Now, I don’t know what will happen after the ICI will make their findings known to whatever agency kung they will be fined. Nasa sa kanila na iyan. Again, it’s beyond the executive’s purview. Let's not focus on the politics of it. Let us focus on simple, simple pesos and centavos of it,” he added.
During a Senate hearing last week, contractor couple Pacifico and Sarah Discaya alleged that several House lawmakers received around 25 to 30 percent kickbacks from flood control projects. They also accused some DPWH officials of receiving commissions.
The couple said only 35 to 38 percent of the total project cost was actually spent on the projects.
Separately, a dismissed DPWH official accused Senators Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada during a House hearing of receiving kickbacks from flood control projects. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)