"You cannot paint everyone in government with the same brush as all of these corrupt operators that you see in government."

This was what President Marcos said in an interview with The Manila Bulletin’s “The Sit Down" as he pointed out that corrupt officials are not the face of the government.

"And yes, there are many, many of them, but you will find they do not filter down," Marcos said, referring to officials linked to corrupt activities.

He stressed that there are also many people in government who are serious about public service.

"I have always said there are so many people in government who are very good, who are dedicated to make sacrifices, who give everything that they can to their service," he said.

"These people are making serious sacrifices, time away from their family, money out of their own pocket, things like that. And they do this constantly every single day," he added.

"These corrupt people are not the face of government. All they are is the face of corruption. That's all they are. They are not typical of government," the President further said.

Marcos also pointed out that one of the reasons why he exposed the systemic corruption in the country's flood control projects was because of the people in government who try so hard in fulfilling their duties and responsibilities.

"And one of the reasons I really exposed all of this was because these people are trying so hard. You know, they come into work early in the morning. They leave late. They don't take holidays. They come in on the weekends just so that they can do what they're even beyond, above and beyond their actual job description," Marcos stated.

All the corrupt people in government, he added, "are doing something else entirely"— corruption, just taking money, destroying projects that people worked very hard on.

"You know, of course everyone needs the money but most government workers would rather just be able to do their work and actually serve. That's why they're there. Government service is not easy. We must respect that people are really working very hard and trying their best," Marcos said.

In August this year, Marcos made public disturbing findings in the country's flood control projects such as 20 percent of the entire P545-billion flood control projects were awarded to only 15 contractors, five of them had contracts around the Philippines.

This led to further discovery of more anti-flood infrastructures as either substandard or non-existent.

Both the House of Representatives and Senate have initiated investigations in the flood control mess, uncovering officials allegedly linked to the multi-billion corruption.

It has eventually led to the President's formation of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), a body that would look into the infrastructure anomalies independently.

The Sit Down is an in-depth interview video podcast that brings audiences closer to the most influential voices in the country and beyond. Episodes can be accessed via The Manila Bulletin's YouTube and Spotify channels.