Pacquiao’s first EO: Review of all government contracts

MANILA, Philippines — If elected, presidential candidate Sen. Manny Pacquiao’s first executive order will be to review all government contracts as well as identify anomalous transactions and people behind these deals.

Speaking during his campaign activities in Iligan City yesterday, Pacquiao said the EO would be the springboard for his sweeping reforms against corruption in government.

“I’ll reveal this. My very first EO will be to review all contracts of the government. I will look into all officials and employees who took advantage of the government,” he told journalists.

Pacquiao’s presidential bid is hinged on his promise of ridding the government of corruption, having presented himself as an anti-corruption firebrand to voters.

He is seeking reforms in the judicial system to ensure delivery of justice as well as reforms in the penal system, the centerpiece of which is his proposed mega-prison.

He vowed to make the mega-prison home to thousands of corrupt officials and government employees, who would be found guilty of graft and corruption in the massive investigation under his administration.

Under the EO, Pacquiao said he would have a free hand in reviewing all government transactions and in holding corrupt officials and their cohorts accountable.

He said his candidacy is not funded by people with vested interests and ranking government officials.

“Brace yourselves because I’m telling you – even if you are billionaires, trillionaires – as long as you were found to have injected your personal interests in our country’s affairs, believe me: If I’m the president, I’ll laugh you off,” Pacquiao said.

He said he would publicly shame people involved in graft and corruption.

“I will embarrass them in public. I will make sure that they first undergo public shaming before they will be sent to prison, because they have been the very reason why this country and our fellow Filipinos are so poor,” he said.

Pacquiao, standard-bearer of the Promdi party, said it has been his dream to personally lock corrupt government officials in jail. “It’s about time we undertake an honest-to-goodness house cleaning in government.”

He issued the statement shortly after leading the groundbreaking of a 10-hectare site of another Pacman Village in Barangay Dalipuga in Iligan City.

The site was donated by Iligan Promdi mayoralty candidate Tata Tumala.

After the ceremony, Pacquiao proceeded to the war-torn city of Marawi for another groundbreaking in Barangay Matapay and inauguration of his campaign headquarters.

Earlier, Pacquiao led the groundbreaking of three other future housing sites in Bohol and in the towns of Kananga and Leyte in Leyte province.

Pacquiao capped his sortie in Marawi with a “people’s rally” at the Jamiatu Muslim Mindanao ground, wherein he promised to expedite the rehabilitation of the city destroyed during the 2017 Marawi siege.