Powerful Philippine politicians will be in jail by Christmas for corruption scandal, president says

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday that many of at least 37 powerful senators, members of Congress and wealthy businesspeople implicated in a massive corruption scandal involving flood control projects would be locked up in jail by Christmas, as he tried to quell public outrage and street protests.

Marcos said an independent fact-finding commission he created has filed criminal complaints for graft and corruption and plunder, a non-bailable offense, against the 37 suspects. Criminal complaints have also been filed against 86 construction company executives and nine government officials for allegedly evading taxes totaling nearly 9 billion pesos ($152 million).

The government’s Anti-Money Laundering Council has issued seven orders to freeze the assets of corruption suspects, including 1,671 bank accounts, 144 real estate properties, 244 vehicles and other assets worth 6.3 billion pesos ($107 million), Marcos said.

At least 13 luxury cars and SUVs of suspects, including top European and British models, have been seized by the Bureau of Customs for various violations and an initial seven cars have been put up for public auction.

Last month, Philippine officials unveiled a new jail that could accommodate corruption suspects when they undergo trial. The jail in suburban Quezon city could hold up to 800 detainees and officials pledged that powerful politicians would not be given any VIP treatment.

Among the infrastructure projects that were being investigated for possible anomalies were 9,855 flood control projects worth more than 545 billion pesos ($9 billion) that were supposed to have been undertaken since Marcos took office in mid-2022. In September, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto told legislators that up to 118.5 billion pesos ($2 billion) for flood control projects may have been lost to corruption since 2023 alone.

Among those implicated were lawmakers opposed to and allied to Marcos, including former House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez, the president’s cousin and key ally, who has denied any wrongdoing. Some allies of former President Rodrigo Duterte, a harsh critic of Marcos, have also come under suspicion over the anomalies.