President Marcos only learned about the removal of the acceptance rule for infrastructure projects three years into his presidency, Malacañang said.

It was the reason why he was only able to bring it up now, Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said.

When asked about why the President was only talking about the acceptance rule now, which was supposed to be among the key safeguards in ensuring the quality of infrastructure projects around the country, Castro said he was not informed by the former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary.

The Palace official claimed that those who were allegedly behind the removal of the process continued to exist within the Marcos administration. She alleged that these were the same people reporting to then DPWH chief Manuel Bonoan, who also failed to inform the President about it.

Castro pointed out that the more important question is why the process was removed and why the President was kept in the dark until his third year in office.

"Magandang katanungan ay kung bakit tinanggal ang proseso na ito noong nakaraang administrasyon. Ang mga nagsagawa nito ay namayagpag at iyong ibang nagsagawa nito ay nag-crossover sa pamumuno ni Pangulong Marcos Jr. – same people na siyang nagri-report kay dating Secretary Bonoan (A good question to ask is why this process was removed during the previous administration. Those who implemented it back then thrived, and some of them even crossed over under the leadership of President Marcos Jr.—the same people who used to report to former Secretary Bonoan)," Castro said.

"Ang magandang tanungin po dito ay bakit hindi naipaalam ni Secretary Manny Bonoan ito sa Pangulo at ang Pangulo pa po ang siyang nakaalam at nakadiskubre kaya po siya talaga pong nadismaya sa ganitong klaseng ginawa (The real question here is why Secretary Manny Bonoan did not inform the President about this, and why it was the President himself who found out and discovered it. That’s why he was truly disappointed by this kind of act)," Castro added.

The Communications official further said that if the President had not discovered it, "they would probably still be thriving today."

In an interview with The Manila Bulletin’s “The Sit Down," Marcos has once again brought up the "acceptance rule" which he claimed was discarded by the past administration. The rule was considered as one of the key safeguards in ensuring that infrastructure projects were built at par with the project plan and standards.

In the past, he said, the local executive would initiate an inspection to check the quality of the project before the local government signs the acceptance. The contractor won't get paid until the acceptance is signed by the chief executive.