Finishing the investigation on the flood control mess in just a day is "absolutely preposterous" as President Marcos is not doing a tokhang-like probe, Malacanang said.

It came as a reaction to the criticisms of Vice President Sara Duterte on President Marcos' investigation of anomalous flood-control projects. Duterte said if Marcos was serious in his investigation related to corruption, he could finish it in just a day.

Duterte even called the ongoing investigation as "zarzuela," stressing that Marcos can easily identify those who are corrupting the budget if he was indeed serious about it.

Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro, however, hit back at the Vice President, saying Marcos is upholding due process, respects human rights, and not resorting to "tokhang-like" probe.

"Okay, isang araw lang, matatapos na ang imbestigasyon (the investigation can be done in only a day)? That is absolutely preposterous," Castro said in a Palace briefing on Wednesday, Sept. 3.

"Ang Pangulong Marcos Jr., hindi po siya nagsasagawa ng imbestigasyon ala tokhang way. Nirirespeto ng Pangulo ang due process. Nirirespeto ng Pangulo ang human rights so kaya po dumadaan ang lahat sa proseso (Preisdent Marcos Jr. is not conducting an investigation in a tokhang-like way. The President respects due process. The President respects human rights, thus the investigation must go through the process)," Castro added.

The Palace official said if the investigation can be done in only a day, the Vice President could have suggested it to her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, considering that her father, during his time, admitted that there were many ghost projects in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Yet no one was sacked in the DPWH during Duterte's time, Castro said.

"Kung isang araw lang po dapat ito naimbestigahan, sana po ito ay kanyang na-suggest noon sa kanyang ama dahil mismo ang dating pangulong Duterte ay umamin na maraming ghost projects, rampant noon (If this can be investigated in just one day, then she should have suggested it back then to her father, because former president Duterte himself admitted that there were many ghost projects, that it was rampant at the time)," Castro hit back. 

"This is November 2020 inilabas. Pero may nasibak bang secretary ng DPWH sa panahon niya (But was there ever a DPWH secretary removed during his term)?," she added, showing a copy of a published article where Duterte made the admission.

While the flood control mess investigation is being tagged as a mere "zarzuela," Castro pointed out that it has so far revealed that most projects found to be anomalous were under the Duterte administration.

She cited that the projects inspected by Marcos recently were actually implemented under the previous administration.

At dahil sa pag-iimbestiga na ito, naisiwalat din at napatunayan ni Secretary Bato dela Rosa na ang mga Discaya ay 2016 pa pala namamayagpag para sa flood control projects na sila mismo ay nasasabing sangkot sa ghost flood control projects. At iyong nirireklamo ni Mayor Magalong na rock netting ay 2018 pa pala ito proyekto. At iyong nireklamo kay Pangulo na binisita sa Bulacan ay 2021 pa pala ito nagawa (And because of this investigation, Secretary Bato dela Rosa also revealed and confirmed that the Discayas had already been thriving as early as 2016 in flood control projects, and were allegedly involved in ghost flood control projects. And the rock netting that Mayor Magalong complained about turned out to be a project from 2018. And the one complained about to the President, which he visited in Bulacan, turned out to have been done in 2021)," Castro said.

The Palace official also emphasized that Marcos launched the investigation despite knowing that this could hit his administration.

"So muli ang pag-iimbestigang ito para sa taumbayan, hindi para sa pamumulitika. Ginagawa ito ng Pangulo kahit tatamaan ang kanyang  administrasyon (So once again, this investigation is for the people, not for politics. The President is doing this even if it will affect his own administration)," Castro said.

Last Aug. 11, Marcos bared "disturbing" statistics in the overall flood control projects in the country, including the distribution of 20 percent of projects nationwide to only 15 contractors, which he also named during a press conference.

He also revealed that of the P545.64-billion flood control projects, more than P350 billion of these projects did not specify the exact type of flood control being built, repaired, or rehabilitated.