FAR FROM WHAT the public perception that the administration is trying to impute, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is not even close to be considered as a graftbuster, even after creating an independent commission to investigate massive corruption in the government.
According to Ibon Foundation’s Sonny Africa, the President’s anti-graft drive is basically designed to tighten political control.
“Selective, performative and designed to tighten political control, that’s what it is” said Africa even as insisted that Marcos is no anti-corruption hero amid social media flicks that tend to credit the President for opening the can of worms to the public in his latest State of the Nation Address.
“The President feigns surprise at the extent of corruption, while he has always been complicit in making the pork flow” by affixing his signature in the 2025 General Appropriations Act deemed marred with contentious insertions for flood control projects, while removing and reducing those for health and education.
KING OF PORK
Africa was quoted by Bilyonaryo as saying that “ If anything, there is much reason to believe that the president is the King of Pork” citing Marcos’ approval of P987 billion in flood-control pork from 2023 to 2025, on top of P6 trillion in infrastructure funds and P16 billion in confidential and intelligence funds for the Palace since 2022.
Africa dismissed Malacañang’s headline stunts —from the “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website to the no-flood-control-budget stunt in 2026—as “calculated blindness.”
“Its most compelling motivation is not to truly eradicate corruption but to gain legitimacy, discipline belligerent allies and opponents, and tighten its systems of patronage and control,” he said.
He warned that Marcos’ campaign spares allies while keeping watchdogs weak.
“Intentionally weak capacity is the most potent enabler of corruption,” Africa said, citing the Commission on Audit, Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Office of the Ombudsman, Commission on Election and the Civil Service Commission, Bilyonaryo reported.
FULL DISCLOSURE
He dared Marcos to give the public full, permanent online access to Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), Statement of Campaign Expenses (SOCE), budget documents, congressional insertions, bid results, joint-venture contracts, inspection reports, and COA audits to prove his sincerity in fighting corruption.
“A simple test of any administration’s anti-corruption sincerity is the extent to which it will trust the public and media with information that helps expose corruption,” Africa said.
He said the president controls all pork barrels, with the executive drafting the National Expenditure Program that Congress later passes as the General Appropriations Act.
Ibon also noted that Malacañang has its own pork barrel in the form of confidential and intelligence funds, amounting to P16 billion from the second half of 2022 to 2025 and another P4.6 billion proposed for 2026.
NO BIG FISHES
Former Senate President Franklin Drilon, who joined the Trillion Peso March Against Corruption on Sunday at the EDSA People Power Monument said corruption has been tolerated by all the presidents of the country since Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
“There were investigations, they were exposed for their involvement or toleration of such anomalies, but not one big fish ended up in jail. No one fears the rule of law. This is why corruption became bolder and more pervasive and systemic,” Drilon said.
This report would no longer touch on Marcos Sr.’s time as the Martial Law regime provided the climate for massive corruption, nepotism, cronyism and human rights and human property violations.
Corruption has persisted in varying degrees of scandal and public response.
ONE AFTER ANOTHER
Corazon c. Aquino (1986-1992) — Topping the issues during her incumbency include cronyism, the looting by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (which she created) that delivered only a fraction of what it recovered in Marcos Sr.’s plunder of $5 to $10 billion; the contentious Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program that enabled the Cojuangcos to retain control over landholdings like Hacienda Luisita.
Fidel V. Ramos (1992-1998) – He prioritized liberalization and infrastructure development but had issues like the PEA-Amari deal, a land reclamation project, was flagged for irregularities, with allegations of kickbacks and overpricing; cronies in privatization deals such as the sale of government owned enterprises, though no major convictions materialized.
Joseph Estrada (1998-2001) – His presidency was one of the most infamous for graft. Issues that hounded and caused his ouster were: plunder where he was convicted (a rarity) in 2007 for amassing over P700 million through jueteng (illegal gambling) kickbacks, misuse of public funds, and shady business deals; his diverting tobacco excise taxes and receiving payoffs from illegal gambling operators; cronyism with allies appointed to key positions and benefitting from government contracts. He was later pardoned by his successor, Gloria Arroyo.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001–2010) – GMA faced numerous corruption scandals though she avoided conviction due to political influence. Issues against her: vote rigging in the 2004 election with the “Hello Garci” (Comelec chair Virgilio Garcillano) wiretapping controversy; the $329-M NBN-ZTE broadband project with a Chinese firm that got bloated with inflated costs and kickbacks, which was later cancelled; the P728-M fertilizer fund scam that was diverted to Arroyo’s 2004 campaign; her allies in Congress and local governments were accused of protecting her from accountability, perpetuating a culture of impunity.
Benigno Aquino III (2010–2016) – Though his administration made headway in transparency, it was not free from controversies like the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or “pork barrel” scandal, uncovered in 2013, where billions in discretionary funds landed in fake NGOs via Janet Lim-Napoles (the SC later outlawed PDAF and other forms of pork barrel). The PDAF scandal eroded public confidence but his administration prosecuted high profile figures, which his critics were selectively targeted.
Rodrigo Duterte (2016–2022) – He was hated for his brutal war on drugs and extra judicial killings. Aside from that, issues that hounded him were: the P8.7-B Pharmally scandal involving overpriced COVID-19 medical supplies with contracts awarded to allies like Michael Yang. No major convictions had happened; favoritism in infrastructure projects, particularly those tied to Chinese loans under the “Build, Build, Build” program, raised concerns about transparency and debt traps; Duterte shielded allies while targeting opponents, undermining institutional accountability in his anti corruption drive. Duterte’s populist style and strongman image deflected some corruption scrutiny, but public frustration grew over mismanagement during the pandemic. Lack of transparency led to perception of his administration’s entrenched corruption and impunity.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (2022–present) – This son of the exiled dictator is facing intense scrutiny and public outrage over the 2025 budget insertions for flood control projects, many of them ghost of non-existent but paid for in full; incomplete and substandard. It is reported that 60 percent of funds were lost to corruption by politicians in cahoots with select private contractors. He established the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to probe corruption in flood control projects spanning his and prior administrations. But the people who staged the Trillion People Rally Against Corruption on Sept. 21 coinciding with the 53rd anniversary of his father’s Martial Law distrust ongoing probes due to perceived conflicts of interest with some of those implicated said to be his allies.
Systemic Corruption persists because of patronage politics and cronyism. Add to that is the bolder dynastic rule in most areas of the country.
Corruption since Marcos Sr. has consistently undermined development resulting in $26 billion debt to modern infrastructure failures, exacerbating poverty and inequality.