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Alexis Romero - The Philippine Star
December 5, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — While his crackdown on corruption in flood control projects may have caused disruptions and sufferings, it can be likened to a major cancer surgery that brings pain before healing, according to President Marcos.
And while the country is in anguish over the multibillion-peso scandal and the political shockwaves it triggered, Marcos said such pain is needed for a system tainted with abuses and entitlement to change.
“I gave you lots of stories this year. You did not run out of bombshells, exposé, scandals. Well, you know, the truth of the matter is, it really has been a difficult time because I knew that what we were starting would really be disruptive,” the President said during a fellowship dinner with journalists covering Malacañang last Wednesday.
“But we are trying precisely to change the entire system. And when you have to excise a cancer out of such a complicated system, you need to do some very major surgery. And to do that, and when you do that, you will bleed. And that is what we had to go through,” he added.
Marcos expressed optimism that Filipinos would recover from the controversy, which spawned a number of resignations in various agencies, as well as leadership changes in the legislature and massive protests demanding accountability in the government.
“We had to. I am sorry that the people suffered because of it, but it had to be done. Otherwise, we would move things the same way that we have always — things that we have discovered that have been being done for the last three decades will just continue,” he said.
“So we have to go all through that pain, go through the difficulty, go through the anguish the country is going through now. But we are Filipinos. We may be bleeding now, but we will also heal very, very quick.”
The scandal erupted after Marcos – in his fourth State of the Nation Address last July – ordered a probe on substandard and non-existent flood control projects. The President created the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to spearhead the investigation.
His call has led to the issuance of arrest orders against former congressman Zaldy Co and several contractors but also fueled rumors of destabilization plots and concerns over the country’s political stability.
While he would later end up at the receiving end of public outcry, Marcos vowed no letup in efforts to cleanse the government of misfits.
“And between myself and those who are helping me and advising me, I think we know how. So it’s not as if we are lost, and we do not know what we are going to do. We know what we are doing. And we will continue this campaign on corruption. We will continue our campaign on this abuse and this entitlement that has shocked everyone, myself included,” he said.
“I know that it will be done — that we will be able to look back on this and say, ‘Okay, it was difficult, but it had to be done and it was worth it.’ That is what we are hoping for. There’s very little time to do it in, but I really think, I mean, if we work 24/7 like we always have, I think we can do it.”
‘Crazy mind game’
In the same speech, Marcos called on journalists to combat “fake news,” describing the problem as a “crazy mind game.”
He lamented that the works of real and dedicated journalists are being sidelined by “crazy conspiracy theories that have no basis in fact.”
“And that’s why we really have to work on this very, very hard because it has taken too much of the space,” Marcos said.
“Our big problem, and this one, I need your help, I don’t know how to approach it. We have many, many ideas. But what we need, really, to work together on is the fake news. The things that have been going on.”
Marcos said the government needs the help of all the media to explain to the people that they have to be more discerning about what they read, hear, or see around them.
“And that is the challenge, I think, for us in the future. And it’s not an easy one. It’s not an easy challenge. But we have to continue and try and do it because it is important that people know the truth, that people know what is happening, truly. That the people are not led into this crazy mind game that people have been playing without any connection anymore to reality,” the Chief Executive said.
