Marcos vows to arrest suspects behind fraudulent flood projects as typhoons batter Philippines

ISTANBUL

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday vowed to arrest those behind fraudulent flood-control projects, as two typhoons this month have killed at least 259 people in the country.

"I know before Christmas many of those named here. Their case will be finished; the case will be complete," Marcos said, according to the Inquirer newspaper.

"They’re going to be locked up; they won’t have a Merry Christmas," he added.

Department of Public Works and Highways chief Vince Dizon said at least 41 individuals will be filed before Christmas in connection with the scheme.

Marcos said during a progress update three months after launching an investigation that "I’m sure we can still recover a lot, so we’ll continue to do that," referring to tax-evasion cases being prepared against contractors and government officials, with billions of pesos expected to be returned to the state.

He also said his cousin, former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, whose name surfaced in the projects, is not included in the initial batch of case referrals "because the only evidence against him is in the Senate."

"If something else comes out, then he might have to be answerable to something," Marcos said.

"No one is immune to this, no one is exempt from this investigation," he added.

In September, thousands of people held protests across the Philippines, including in the capital Manila, over alleged corruption.

Rallies followed revelations of mass fraud detected in about 9,855 flood-control projects worth more than 545 billion pesos ($9.5 billion).