The Makati Business Club (MBC), formed to oppose crony capitalism during the regime of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr., has thrown its support behind his son, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., as he faces calls for resignation on the heels of the flood control scandal.

MBC Executive Director Rafael Ongpin stated that the influential group, comprising the country's leading business executives, is backing Marcos as he pushes for initiatives to promote transparency in the government.

In a statement last week, the MBC called for reforms in the government rather than resignation or overthrow.

This comes after the nationwide protests on Sept. 21, which the group acknowledged as a reflection of the people’s “disgust and indignation against systemic corruption.”

The demonstrations stem from allegations of corruption in flood control projects that allegedly siphoned off billions of dollars in funds, reportedly involving contractors, engineers, and government officials.

While the protests largely focused on the flood control issue, certain groups used the occasion to call for Marcos’ resignation, accusing him of either participating in or neglecting the massive corruption scandal.

“During People Power ‘86, the call was ‘Marcos resign’. This is not the same thing. No one there was asking for the overthrow of the government except, of course, the DDS infiltrators who had Marcos resign placards,” Ongpin told reporters last week.

“The DDS is the only one who would gain by a Marcos resignation,” he added, referring to the Diehard Duterte Supporters, who are loyal to the former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Under the Constitution, the vice president shall become the president in case of death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of the sitting president. In this case, Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, would replace President Marcos.

“It's a very funny situation from my point of view. But, you know, whether you like it or not, he's our leader. So we need him to carry out these reforms,” said Ongpin, referring to Marcos.

In an effort to restore transparency, Marcos established the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to investigate corruption, irregularities, and misuse of funds in flood control infrastructure and other government projects.

Ongpin said the MBC is confident that the ICI will achieve its objective of seeking justice given the reputation and integrity of its three-member body, chaired by former Supreme Court (SC) Justice Andres Reyes.

“So let's give these guys the benefit of the doubt. Yes, [they were] appointed by the President, but we think the people are pretty good. So we believe they will be truly independent,” Ongpin said.

Aside from Reyes, former Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio “Babes” Singson and the SGV and Co. Country Managing Partner Rossana Fajardo are the other members of the ICI.

To help the ICI in its wide-ranging probe, the MBC has recommended to Singson the potential use of artificial intelligence (AI) to help fast-track the discovery of anomalous projects.

Ongpin said tech giants IBM and Microsoft recently presented these AI tools before the business group. 

“They do not have the manpower at this point to scrutinize each of those transactions individually. So they're going to have to work with AI. They're going to have to work with patterns,” he said.

At the same time, the MBC is also urging the Marcos administration to review the implementation of the government procurement process to curb potential corruption.

Ongpin noted that although some MBC members are in the infrastructure business, none are involved in the flood control scandal.

He said the bidding process, which is prone to corruption, is deterring huge firms from participating in government-led projects. 

For the part of the MBC, Ongpin committed that the group will closely monitor the ongoing deliberations to prevent last-minute insertions for discretionary infrastructure spending in the 2026 national budget.

Under House Resolution No. 94, the MBC was accredited as one of the bona fide civil society organizations that are observers in the budget hearings.

“If we're going to fight corruption, which is systemic, we have to be systematic about it. We have to systematically fight corruption. And our role is to do the difficult and tedious work of monitoring,” said Ongpin.

Last year, the MBC was quick to flag the proposed funding for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for this year, which was higher than that of the Department of Education (DepEd).

Congressional insertions amounting to over ₱200 billion were inserted in the DPWH’s budget during last year’s bicameral conference committee.

“That was what happened with the 2025 budget. So we're trying to make sure that we don't get it in the 2026 budget,” said Ongpin.

Hearings of the bicameral conference committee, composed of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, will be made public for the first time this year.