Activist group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) has accused President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of being directly linked to what it calls a “large-scale and systematic corruption scheme” involving flood control projects, alleging that billions in kickbacks are being delivered straight to Malacañang Palace.
BAYAN said Senator Panfilo Lacson’s recent remarks only reinforced suspicions about the Palace’s central role.
“Senator Lacson desperately tried to put a spin on the delivery of kickbacks in Malacañang Palace, but he only ended up confirming that President Marcos Jr. is directly linked to the flood control corruption scheme,” the group said in a statement.
BAYAN claimed that Marcos ordered ₱100 billion worth of budget insertions and signed off on a spending bill that contained pork barrel allocations for his allies.
“Now we know that SOPs, or kickbacks, from these projects are delivered to the doorstep of Malacañang Palace,” the statement read.
The group dismissed Palace denials that the president was unaware of the alleged cash deliveries.
“Palace apologists are claiming that Marcos has no knowledge of the luggage or armored cars containing the kickbacks, but this is absurd, unbelievable, and an insulting excuse intended to shield the president from accountability and mislead the people,” BAYAN said.
BAYAN further accused Marcos of feigning ignorance. “At first, Marcos feigns surprise about the extent of the flood control corruption, then he pretends to be clueless about the congressional insertions, and now his subordinates insist he is unaware of the piles of cash entering the Palace. Either Marcos is incompetent or a recidivist liar and crook who uses his power to steal with impunity,” the group charged.
The organization called for an independent investigation but argued that such a probe is impossible while Marcos remains in office.
“He has to be removed from power, including the equally corrupt vice president, and allow a transition council to pursue accountability and reforms in governance,” BAYAN said.
The group also announced plans for mass protests. “The exposé about the kickbacks stored in luggage and armored cars will further enrage the people clamoring for truth, accountability, and justice. We call for bigger and bolder protests in the next few days and weeks to express outrage over the grand heist involving top officials,”* the statement continued.
BAYAN said its November 30 rally at Luneta will highlight public anger over corruption.
“The protest shall condemn how Malacañang has been turned into the ground zero of corruption and main hub of the criminal syndicate operating in government. If the people’s stolen money is inside the Palace, we should assert our right to claim it, arrest the criminals who delivered and received the kickbacks, and make Marcos accountable for his crimes against the Filipino people,” the group declared. (ZIA LUNA)
