President Marcos' intention in revealing the 15 contractors who secured 20 percent of the P545-billion flood control projects in the country was not to accuse them of anything yet, Malacañang said.

It was because they have the most projects under their belt. Thus, the projects under them would be inspected, assessed, and checked if they are indeed existing, Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said.

Castro also said the statistics released by Marcos on Monday, Aug. 11, raises the question of why they are dominating the awarding of contracts.

"Dahil sila po iyong pinakamaraming project, so tingnan po natin, kung ano ba iyong mga naging proyekto, sino ba iyong kumausap sa kanila, mga magaganda ba iyong mga naging trabaho nila (Because they are the ones with the most projects, so. we will look into what these projects were, who dealt with them, and whether the work they did was of good quality)," Castro said in a Palace briefing on Tuesday, Aug. 12.

"Bakit sila lagi ang namamayagpag, so iyon po ang dapat, kaya po iyan ni-release ng ating Pangulo (Why is it that they are always the ones dominating? That is why the President released that information)," she added.

The Palace official also said that the 15 contractors are not yet blacklisted. Their projects, however, will be subject to assessment—whether the projects are existing or operational, and if they are effective.

"(H)indi pa po (blacklisted), sinabi lang po, iyan na lang po iyong mga paunang impormasyon na ito iyong medyo madaming mga projects na nakuha mula sa gobyerno (They are not yet blacklisted, it was only disclosed that the initial information was they have he most projects secured from the government)," Castro said.

"So, iyon iyong titingnan. Una, ghost project ba iyan o existing, kung existing man, operational ba, gumagana ba o kung gumagana ba, epektibo ba para sa pagkontrol ng baha (So that is what will be checked. First, whether it is a ghost project or an existing one; if it is existing, is it operational; and if it is operational, is it effective in controlling floods)," she explained.

Castro also maintained that the President will not name names yet, pending the probe. She added that he will reveal them once the investigation is completed.

The Palace official also encouraged lawmakers, who have information on flood control corruption, to directly report it to the President. She further urged the public to do the same using the newly-launched "Sumbong sa Pangulo" website.

There is no deadline for submitting reports via the website, according to her.

 On Monday, Marcos revealed to the public the key findings, which he tagged as "disturbing," in the ongoing investigation of flood control projects.

Aside from the contractors, he also bared that over P350-billion projects have no exact specification, saying that several projects in different locations bear exactly the same contract cost, which could mean the same designs, materials, and lengths were used despite differences in locations and terrains.

Marcos also revealed that there is a mismatch between the locations with most projects and top flood-prone provinces.