TAGUIG CITY, Metro Manila — Vowing to hold accountable the government officials and private individuals behind the anomalous public works projects being investigated by his administration, President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. used this year’s National Heroes’ Day commemoration to urge Filipinos to join him in his latest campaign to weed out unscrupulous people in government.

The president departed from his usual practice of honoring ordinary citizens after offering a floral wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier even as he deviated from the focal purpose of the commemoration to warn that even the smallest acts of dishonesty and abuse of power should not be ignored or taken lightly.
“It is not only strengthening our defense that we must focus on to safeguard our freedom. We must also fight the threat of corruption and the abuse of power in our society,” he stated in his speech at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City.

He stressed in Pilipino that corrupt officials should be held accountable “because what they steal is not only money, but also the health, dreams and future of the next generations of Filipinos.”

“(. . .) if we repeatedly let them pass, they will gradually destroy our society without us even realizing it,” he added.

He enjoined Filipinos to work together to fight corruption: “Let us fight the abuse of power. Let us resist the trampling of our rights. For this is the only way we can achieve a more prosperous, more just, and stronger Bagong Pilipinas.”

Last month in his fourth State of the Nation Address (SoNA), he condemned the collusion between public officials and contractors in stealing government funds through flood control projects implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The chief executive thus urged the public to report to him all anomalous DPWH projects in their communities, admitting that the government alone could not check each one.

House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez also issued a similar call as he asked Filipinos to continue fighting corruption, injustice and indifference to honor the sacrifices of national heroes.