MANILA: The Philippines’ president vowed on Thursday that those behind bogus flood control projects will be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater.
Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including President Ferdinand Marcos’ cousin Congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called ghost infrastructure projects.
The Department of Finance has estimated the Philippine economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (around $2 billion) from 2023 to 2025 due to corruption in flood control projects.
Criminal cases against most of the people implicated were nearly completed, Marcos told reporters.
“We don’t file cases for optics. We file cases to put people in jail,” he said.
“They won’t have a merry Christmas... happy days are over.”
Marcos put the issue of ghost infrastructure projects center stage in his July national address, and public anger over the issue has since mounted.
Asked if his cousin Martin Romualdez will also face charges, Marcos said “not as yet,” citing a lack of evidence, but adding that “no one is exempted in this investigation.”
The Philippines is still reeling from the devastation caused by then Super Typhoon Fung-wong that made landfall in the country on Sunday evening, flooding hundreds of villages and killing at least 27 people.
Fung-wong came just days after Typhoon Kalmaegi hit the central part of the archipelago nation and killed at least 232 people.
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Philippines vows arrests over bogus flood control projects
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Philippines vows arrests over bogus flood control projects
- Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including President Ferdinand Marcos’ cousin Congressman, have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called ghost infrastructure projects
Global leaders commit $1.9 billion to eradicate polio amid funding cuts
Global leaders pledged $1.9 billion to advance polio eradication on Monday, accelerating efforts to protect 370 million children from polio each year amid significant funding cuts.
The budget of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a partnership that includes the World Health Organization and the Gates Foundation, is expected to take a 30 percent cut in 2026 and has a funding gap of $1.7 billion up to 2029.
The shortfall is largely due to a global pullback from foreign aid, led by the US, which is withdrawing from the WHO, although its future funding for polio is not yet final. Other wealthy donor governments like Germany and the UK have also made cuts.
The GPEI partners, in response, plan to focus more on surveillance and vaccination in areas with a high risk of polio transmission.
“The new support pledged in Abu Dhabi will be instrumental in helping the GPEI reach all children in the final endemic countries and stop variant polio outbreaks around the world.” said Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization.
The pledging event, hosted by Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity at Abu Dhabi Finance Week, will reduce the remaining resource gap for GPEI’s 2022 to 2029 strategy to $440 million.
Pledges were made from a diverse group of donors and countries, including $1.2 billion from the Gates Foundation and $450 million from Rotary International.
The budget of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a partnership that includes the World Health Organization and the Gates Foundation, is expected to take a 30 percent cut in 2026 and has a funding gap of $1.7 billion up to 2029.
The shortfall is largely due to a global pullback from foreign aid, led by the US, which is withdrawing from the WHO, although its future funding for polio is not yet final. Other wealthy donor governments like Germany and the UK have also made cuts.
The GPEI partners, in response, plan to focus more on surveillance and vaccination in areas with a high risk of polio transmission.
“The new support pledged in Abu Dhabi will be instrumental in helping the GPEI reach all children in the final endemic countries and stop variant polio outbreaks around the world.” said Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization.
The pledging event, hosted by Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity at Abu Dhabi Finance Week, will reduce the remaining resource gap for GPEI’s 2022 to 2029 strategy to $440 million.
Pledges were made from a diverse group of donors and countries, including $1.2 billion from the Gates Foundation and $450 million from Rotary International.
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