Press Officer of Malacañang Asserts Timeline, Work of Ombudsman and DOJ
Malacañang press officer undersecretary Claire Castro reacted to the claim of Senator Imee Marcos that flood control cases will allegedly be filed against senators and congressmen.
The call for accountability after the supposed multi-billion flood control corruption issue broke out gathered thousands of Filipinos on the streets in 2025. Even celebrities in the showbiz industry and the other fields joined the “Trillion Peso March” that was held in September and November last year.
Several officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) were tagged in the flood control mess. Many members of the House of Representatives as well as some senators and former senators were also implicated in the issue.
Amid the flood control mess, the DPWH budget is given a budget for 2026 that is over P300 billion lower than the original proposal in the National Expenditure Program (NEP). Meanwhile, the DPWH still gets the second biggest budget for 2026 among the key departments in the government at P530.9 billion.
Here are the approved budget for the different key departments in the government this 2026:
- Department of Education — P1.015 trillion
- Department of Public Works and Highways — P530.9 billion
- Department of Health — P448.1 billion
- Department of the Interior and Local Government — P310.5 billion
- Department of National Defense — P310.0 billion
- Department of Agriculture — P297.1 billion
- Department of Social Welfare and Development — P270.2 billion
- Department of Transportation — P141.0 billion
- Department of Labor and Employment — P73.6 billion
- Judiciary — P70.6 billion
The investigation of the flood control mess is led by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) which was created under the order of Pres. Bongbong Marcos. It was a three-member body led by former Justice Andres Reyes Jr.
Amid the call for accountability, presidential sister and Sen. Imee Marcos claimed that she is sad that only senators are allegedly targeted in the filing of flood control charges and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez is not. According to her, cases are supposedly set to be filed against senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva, former Sen. Bong Revilla, and congressmen.
Marcos claimed that her cousin and the “speaker’s office that were the sources of corruption in flood control”. She also claimed that the Senate leadership is allegedly preventing the members of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee from implicating influential individuals into the issue.
Recently, Malacañang reacted to the claim of Sen. Imee Marcos over the alleged filing of the flood control charges. Based on a report on GMA News, Palace press officer undersecretary Claire Castro said they don’t want to go ahead of the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice’s work.
”Ayaw nating pangunahan kung ano ang magiging trabaho ng Ombudsman at ng DOJ, as far as we are concerned may mga nasampahan na po ng kaso. Ang DPWH nagsampa na po ng kaso, ang ICI po nagrekomenda na po ng for filing of the cases,” the Malacañang official said.
Based on the report, Malacañang press officer undersecretary Claire Castro also told Super Radyo dzBB that the timeline is in the hands of the Ombudsman. According to her, it is a good news if the filing of the flood control charges will be on January 15 as Sen. Imee Marcos has claimed.
”Nasa kamay na po ng Ombudsman ‘yan kung ano ang timeline nila so ayaw po natin pangunahan. Kung January 15 ang pinakamaaga, magandang balita po ‘yan,” Castro said.
Previously, Senate Pres. Tito Sotto reacted to the claim of Sen. Imee Marcos over the alleged control of the Senate leadership on the flood control probe.