‘Clean your house first!’: Cabinet tells House amid flood control probe
MANILA, Philippines — The Cabinet on Saturday, September 6, denounced what it called “recent spins” from members of the House of Representatives, accusing them of shifting blame for corruption and failures onto the executive branch.
In a strongly worded statement, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, speaking on behalf of Cabinet officials, said they would not tolerate attacks on the integrity and reputation of the executive, nor any attempt to “hold the budget process hostage by political theatrics.”
“All our investigations into the anomalies will be futile if the sources of corruption remain unchecked,” the statement read in a post on the Facebook page of the Presidential Communications Office.
The Cabinet then called on the House to heed public clamor for accountability.
“CLEAN YOUR HOUSE FIRST!” it said.
This comes amid intense scrutiny of the government’s multi-billion peso flood control projects, which have been found to contain numerous “ghost” and substandard infrastructure undertakings across several provinces.
The House of Representatives, through a joint inquiry by three committees, is investigating alleged corrupt practices involving the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), contractors and possibly some lawmakers.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier condemned graft-tainted flood control contracts during his 2025 State of the Nation Address, urging swift action against corrupt officials exploiting disaster mitigation funds.
The ongoing probe follows reports that billions allocated for flood management could have been lost to anomalies such as overpriced projects, nonexistent works and favoritism towards a small group of favored contractors.
The Commission on Audit and the Senate’s Blue Ribbon Committee are also conducting parallel investigations.
The DPWH also reshuffled key officials, suspended implicated offices and created an Anti-Corruption Task Force. Former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan resigned amid the mounting controversy, replaced by Vince Dizon.
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