8 arrested in Philippine flood control scandal, but will ‘big fish’ get away?

Eight officials from the Philippines’ Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) have been arrested, marking a more assertive phase in President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s response to the sprawling flood control corruption scandal. Analysts, however, have described the step as narrowly focused on minor players, noting that investigators have yet to confront the high-profile lawmakers and contractors accused of driving the scheme, raising doubts about how far the inquiry is prepared to reach. The Department of Interior and Local Government on Monday said the arrested officials came from the DPWH regional office responsible for an anomalous 289-billion-peso (US$4.9 billion) flood control project in Oriental Mindoro. Those taken into custody include regional director Gerald Pacanan, along with Gene Ryan Altea, Ruben Santos, Dominic Serrano, Felisardo Casuno, Juliet Calvo, Lerma Cayco and Dennis Abagon, according to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla. “We have to make this clear that no matter where you are in the world, we will find you. If you are at large, we will find you. If you are hiding in the Philippines, we will find you,” Remulla said. Earlier in the day, Marcos had confirmed in a video posted on social media that seven of the 16 individuals linked to the flood control controversy who had been issued arrest warrants by the country’s anti-corruption court were now in the custody of authorities. While most had volunteered to surrender, Abagon was arrested in Quezon City on Sunday, at a house allegedly owned by the vice-mayor of a town in Oriental Mindoro after authorities failed to locate him at his last known address. “Those hiding them will also be held accountable. Those who are planning on helping these wanted individuals, the biggest help you can give them is to encourage them to surrender so they can answer the allegations before them,” Marcos said, vowing that no special treatment would be given. Marcos also confirmed that former congressman Zaldy Co remained at large after announcing on Friday that an arrest warrant had been issued for him. Co was the House appropriations committee chair from 2022 until earlier this year and was one of the first legislators tied to the controversy after Sunwest, the construction firm he co-founded, landed among the top 15 contractors that hoarded the bulk of flood control projects in 2022. Sunwest was the firm contracted to build the 289-billion-peso dyke along a river in Oriental Mindoro. Co has maintained that he divested from Sunwest in 2019, and has been out of the country since July. In a series of videos released on November 14, Co implicated Marcos and his cousin, former House speaker Martin Romualdez, in the scandal, accusing them of masterminding more than 100 billion pesos worth of budget insertions while claiming that he did not receive a single cent of those insertions. “To the rest of the accused who remain at large, my advice is for you to surrender. Don’t wait to be chased, so you can answer all the allegations thrown against you,” Marcos said. ‘Sacrificial small fish’ Analysts said the arrests marked an early but limited show of force in an investigation that had so far avoided the political heavyweights at its centre, arguing that the real test would be whether investigators confront the deeper networks alleged to underpin the scandal. Matthew David Ordonez, a political-science lecturer at De La Salle University in Manila, called those detained “sacrificial small fish to show President Marcos is progressing with the flood control investigations, which are otherwise moving slowly”. Ordonez said officially arresting Co would be the administration’s “first real milestone” since investigations began in July. “Since many of the ‘big fish’ implicated are key legislators and allies, it is understandable he is hesitant to arrest them right away without concrete evidence. The scope of implicated figures could potentially cripple the administration,” he said. Arjan Aguirre, an assistant professor at the Ateneo de Manila University’s political science department, said however that Co’s arrest was “unlikely to change anything” and could incentivise Co to portray himself as a political victim persecuted by his former allies. Should Co be taken into custody, he was likely to continue sowing confusion about the investigation while doubling down on his accusations involving Marcos and Romualdez, Aguirre noted. “This will inevitably raise questions: Why only now? And why begin with Co – along with some Sunwest figures and selected DPWH officials – when the alleged network appears much broader?” he said. Analysts note that public confidence in the government investigation remains low. A September poll from Pulse Asia revealed only 23 per cent trusted the Independent Commission for Infrastructure, an ad hoc commission tasked with investigating and auditing the flood control projects. Recent opinion surveys have also shown declining trust and approval ratings for Marcos. “These arrests came at a crucial time to prevent further decline in their public trust ratings,” Ordonez said. Nathaniel Candelaria, assistant professor of political science at the University of the Philippines Diliman, said the public was unlikely to accept the outcome of the investigations if the main culprits escaped accountability. “The Marcos Jnr administration will continue to be hounded by calls for accountability … as long as the masterminds are not yet arrested, people will continue to call for accountability,” Candelaria said. The public was also unlikely to appreciate the value of a DPWH transparency portal – launched on Monday – that allowed citizens to track the progress of public works projects, he noted. “I think it will matter to those who are very technical about government budgeting. However, for ordinary Filipinos, I do not think they appreciate this. My sense is that for them, holding people accountable matters to them more than these websites,” he said.

8 arrested in Philippine flood control scandal, but will ‘big fish’ get away?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Analysts say the real test will be whether investigators confront the deeper networks alleged to underpin the corruption scandal

Analysts say the real test will be whether investigators confront the deeper networks alleged to underpin the corruption scandal