“Buwagin natin ang sistemang ‘yan. They cannot be allowed continuity.”

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday vowed to put an end to corruption in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), saying that decades of abuses will no longer be tolerated.

During the Kapihan with the Media in Phnom Penh that capped his three-day State Visit to Cambodia, President Marcos said that while laws and rules are in place, they have not been properly implemented, allowing illegal practices to persist for over 20 years.

“We haven’t been following (the rules) apparently it turns out for at least 21 years. Because the date we keep seeing is 2003. So, 21 years ng ganito. So, it got worse and worse and worse and worse,” President Marcos said.

“And the shocking part of this is that it became normalized. ‘Hindi, ganyan talaga eh, ganyan talaga ang patakbo eh.’ Pumayag naman ‘yung mga iba. Eh ako hindi ako papayag,” the President stressed.

The President said the independent commission to be formed will investigate irregularities in flood control projects and tackle systemic corruption within the DPWH.

“Dapat malaman kung paano tayo nagkaganito. How did we get to this terrible point where all of these actuations – ito ‘yung mga kickback, lahat ‘yang mga pinag-uusapan natin – naging institutionalized, naging normal?” the President said.

“And that’s what we are going to have to investigate. And we have to — buwagin natin ang sistemang ‘yan. They cannot be allowed continuity,” the President stressed. | PND