PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. vowed to tighten government spending and curb inefficiencies in the use of public funds as he called for faster project implementation and better coordination among agencies on Monday.
Speaking before development partners and senior officials in Mandaluyong City during the Philippine Development Forum 2025, Mr. Marcos said his administration will not tolerate waste or inaction in the execution of government programs.
“We will not tolerate measurement without action, nor will we tolerate the wastage of public funds,” he said in mixed English and Filipino. “No money will go to waste. We will not allow the nation’s coffers to be squandered.”
The President said reforms are underway to accelerate the disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) and ensure foreign-funded projects translate into tangible results.
He also announced the overhaul of Investment Coordination Committee guidelines — the first comprehensive update in a decade, as well as the simplified issuance of Special Authority to shorten approval timelines for ODA-supported programs.
This comes amid a widening probe into allegations of corruption in government infrastructure projects, particularly flood control projects.
Department of Economy, Planning, and Development Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan told reporters that he hopes the “corruption issues” will be a temporary thing.
“As I said, we expect to come up with measures that will improve the governance of public spending. And if the short-term cost is compensated by a much-improved environment for the medium term and long term, that’s not bad,” he said.
Mr. Balisacan said the flood control mess is unlikely to affect the Philippines’ credit ratings, adding that the ongoing probe will be viewed positively.
“I’m sure that they know there is some corruption there. But, then again, if I were a credit rating agency, if I see a sense that the government is doing something about it, seriously, then I would, in fact, take that as a positive, and I would not be worried about the future,” he said.
Also, Mr. Balisacan said he is open to publicizing the list of barred contractors amid the billion-peso flood control scandal.
“I think that the public being aware of what is a good partner and a bad partner should be part of the accountability mechanism,” he said.
The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have a joint agreement to cross-debar contractors found to have violated project guidelines or engaged in questionable conduct.
Meanwhile, World Bank Division Director for the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei Zafer Mustafaoğlu said the government’s action towards corruption will improve investor appetite and should support long-term growth.
“We also work in the countries, including in the Philippines, to actually enhance transparency, enhance institutional structures to actually deal and reduce corruption,” he said.
In his opening speech, Mr. Mustafaoğlu said that there are opportunities to leverage ODA funding to increase transparency and introduce system improvements for better results and accountability.
“Collectively, the development partners stand ready to extend around $50 billion in support over the next three years, if requested by the government, to accelerate the delivery of better services for Filipino citizens,” he said.
Finance Undersecretary Joven Z. Balbosa said the government can learn from the project cycle and “well-established international process” of development partners.
“From project preparation, project implementation, execution, and then the monitoring and evaluation, the learnings from it gets to new project proposals and design. Within those cycles, there are missions or what you call intermittent reviews, which looks at the project, ensuring quality of the project delivery and whether they’re on time,” he said.
For his part, Budget Assistant Secretary Romeo Matthew T. Balanquit ruled out concerns over underspending amid the probe into anomalous flood control projects.
“The worry of underspending is not really there. We still have accounts payable, meaning those projects that were already finished in the previous year and we have to pay them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gary D. Ador Dionisio, dean of the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde School of Diplomacy and Governance, said the President must implement institutional reforms that enhance financial transparency, strengthen independent oversight and establish comprehensive anti-corruption mechanisms to achieve his administration’s goals.
These reforms are essential not only to prevent fund misuse but also to ensure that ODA effectively supports infrastructure, social services and inclusive growth, he added.
“There is imperative to strengthen public financial management by fully digitalizing procurement and budgeting processes, enforcing performance-based spending, and ensuring independent audits are transparent and accessible to the public,” he said via Facebook Messenger.
He also noted that oversight bodies like the Commission on Audit and the Office of the Ombudsman should be empowered with greater prosecutorial authority and led by individuals of unquestionable integrity.
Ateneo de Manila University political science lecturer Hansley A. Juliano said Mr. Marcos is working to distance himself from ongoing corruption scandals by projecting an image of impartiality and reform.
This effort, however, is complicated by controversies involving his own family, including former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez and Senator Ma. Imelda Josefa Remedios “Imee” R. Marcos, who is aligned with the rival camp.
Mr. Marcos’ primary goal, according to Mr. Juliano, appears to be political survival and completing his term to cement a narrative that the Marcoses endured without corruption.
The 17th Philippine President made sweeping anti-corruption statements during his State of the Nation Address last July following a series of rains and flooding in several areas of the country.
He launched a crackdown against anomalous public works projects and established the Independent Commission for Infrastructure to probe such problems. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana and Aubrey Rose A. Inosante
