The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has flagged corruption as a major risk to Philippine infrastructure delivery, warning that the multibillion-peso flood-control corruption scandal show that current accountability safeguards remain insufficient to prevent the misuse of...
Reforms in public procurement, infrastructure oversight, and accountability must be fully carried out to ensure that the billion-peso flood-control corruption scandal does not happen again and those responsible are made to answer, according to four governance and business groups. In a joint...
Philippine economic growth is seen falling to a new post-pandemic low of three percent this year as the lingering impacts of last year’s multi-billion-peso flood-control corruption scandal and the prolonged war in the Middle East weigh on investor and business confidence, according to think tank...
Philippine economic growth would continue to underperform this year and next as the country faces not only headwinds from a prolonged war in the Middle East but also domestic challenges related to politics and corruption, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF). The IIF’s latest...
During intense deliberations that preceded the 2005 enactment of the Expanded Value Added Tax (E-VAT) Law, which also covered oil and electricity, lawmakers defended the measure as a treasury-tightening mechanism; an unpopular but calculated imposition designed to raise massive revenues so it could...
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), the Philippine financial intelligence unit, has begun searching for its next executive director as Matthew David prepares to step down and seek another position within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). David led several asset freezes and seizures...
President Marcos has urged remaining individuals with warrants of arrest over flood control anomalies, including resigned lawmaker Zaldy Co, to surrender as he announced Monday, Nov. 24, that seven were already under custody. In a video message, Marcos reported that out of the 16 individuals with...
Malacañang shrugged off calls for President Marcos to resign amid allegations of corruption linked to ongoing flood control anomalies, stressing that a change in leadership could halt the investigations. In a statement on Sunday, Nov. 16, Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary...
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said on Friday, November 14 that the medical records provided by former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee are “outdated.” Gatchalian pointed this out to the senators at the continuation of the blue ribbon panel’s investigation...
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...
Once cases are filed against former Ako Bikol Partylist congressman Zaldy Co, President Marcos will order the cancellation of his passport, but now he is letting the courts do their job. Co, who has been out of the country supposedly to seek medical treatment, is among the biggest personalities...
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said on Tuesday, November 4 that the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has invited a “very important witness” to shed more light into the controversy surrounding the government’s flood control projects in its next hearing. According to Lacson,...
