President Marcos announced that the government is developing a "transparency portal" where the public can access information of government projects and their contractors.

In order to ensure that honesty, integrity, and accountability are upheld in government, Marcos said on Thursday, Nov. 13, that the government is implementing reforms across various sectors of our nation.

It would include the details of contractors, implementing offices, project locations, and their status.

"Bumubuo tayo ng transparency portal upang makapagbigay sa publiko ng mas malawak na access sa impormasyon tungkol sa mga proyekto kabilang ang mga detalye hinggil sa mga kontratista. Nagpapatupad ng tanggapan, lokasyon, at status ng proyekto (We are creating a transparency portal to provide the public with broader access to information about government projects, including details about contractors, implementing offices, project locations, and project status)," Marcos said in a press conference in Malacañan.

Marcos said the portal aims to make every stage of the projects accessible to the public, allowing easier monitoring and detection of irregularities.

"Ibig sabihin babantayan natin nang husto every step of the way. Bawat hakbang sa prosesong ito ay babantayan natin nang mabuti para ‘pag may nakita tayong hindi tama na gawa o against the rules and regulations ay makikita natin kaagad at hindi na natin pababayaan na makikita lang after two, three years kagaya ng nangyayari ngayon (This means we will closely monitor every step of the process. Each stage will be carefully watched so that if we see anything improper or against the rules and regulations, we can immediately take action and prevent it from being discovered only after two or three years, as has often been the case in the past)," the Chief Executive said.

The President said his administration will also implement systematic reforms in three key areas to improve transparency, data security, and citizen participation in monitoring our projects—reforms in design process, bidding and procurement, and payment process.

He said reforms in the design process will enhance planning, help avoid risks, and ensure that decisions and designs are based on data.

Reforms in bidding and procurement will strengthen competition, honesty, and integrity, and help prevent possible risk factors throughout the procurement process, he added.

Reforms in the payment process, on the other hand, will ensure that funds released for projects are truly for completed work, citing that they have seen many cases where projects were marked “completed” and fully paid for, yet the project could not be found or ghost projects.

"O kung may makita ka mga project, hindi kumpleto, substandard. Kaya pagtitibayin natin ang proseso para tiyakin natin na lahat ng kontrata ay ma-implement nang mabuti (Or when projects do exist, they are incomplete or substandard. That is why we will strengthen the process to make sure that all contracts are properly implemented)," Marcos said.

The President also cited new smart technologies that use artificial intelligence (AI), which reviews the contracting process, can flag irregularities, and can determine whether the project’s implementation is of good quality.

"Kaya gagamitin natin lahat ng paraan na nasa atin, pati nga hanggang AI, lahat ng smart technology na ating nakikita na lumalabas (Therefore, we will use every available tool, including AI and other emerging smart technologies, to inspect and monitor projects)," Marcos said.

"Alam ninyo, lahat naman tayo ay nais natin na makamtan kaagad ang hustisya. Ngunit kung may aral tayong natutunan sa nakaraan, ito ay ang mas mabuti na maging mabusisi tayo at tumagal nang kaunti kaysa magmadali at magkamali (You know, all of us want to achieve justice as soon as possible. But if there’s one lesson we’ve learned from the past, it’s that it’s better to be thorough and take a bit more time than to rush and make mistakes)," Marcos added.

Since his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) where the President called out the corruption in flood control projects and the resulting suffering and loss, Malacañang has initiated a nationwide audit and investigation, and opened the Sumbong sa Pangulo website to receive public reports.

According to the Chief Executive, the Sumbong sa Pangulo website received 20,078 reports from Aug. 11 to Nov. 10. Of this, 735 were found non-existent, 84 were non-operational, and 191 were ineffective.