Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. leads the oath-taking of the new officers of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) at the Kalayaan Hall in Malacañang Palace, Manila, on October 7, 2025.Mark Balmores, PPA pool

Article (news)

MARCOS

Katrina Domingo

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/176481047899420251007-marcos-lcp-oathtaking-PPA-5.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. leads the oath-taking of the new officers of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) at the Kalayaan Hall in Malacañang Palace, Manila, on October 7, 2025.Mark Balmores, PPA pool</span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said that the Philippines is having a “difficult time” as his administration tries to weed out corruption in government, likening the ordeal to treating cancer, a procedure that is painful but needs “to be done.”</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/12/3/flood-control-saga-nearing-endgame-pco-says-1220">Flood control saga &#x27;nearing endgame,&#x27; PCO says</a></div><p>“The truth of the matter is it really has been a difficult time because I knew what we were starting would really be disruptive,” he said, referring to the corruption investigations he opened through the release of a full list of flood control projects in the country from 2022 to 2025.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/11/14/flood-control-scam-individuals-facing-charges-and-actions-to-recover-public-funds-0916">Flood control scandal: Individuals facing charges and government&#x27;s bid to recover funds</a></div><p>“What we are trying will precisely change the system. When you have to excise a cancer out of such a complicated system, you need to do major surgery, and when you do that, you will bleed and that is what we have to go through,” he told Palace reporters.</p><p>Marcos Jr. did not explain in detail the causes of the Philippines’ “difficult anguish” at this time, but investigations into corruption in several government agencies have caused slower public and household spending, steep drops in the stock market, and a weak peso against the dollar performance in recent weeks</p><p>“We have to go through that pain, the difficult anguish that the country is going through now, but we are Filipinos. We may be bleeding now but we will also heal very quickly.”</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;WORTH THE SUFFERING&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>About 5 months since Marcos Jr. slammed corrupt government officials in his 4th State of the Nation Address, the government has partially recovered some alleged ill-gotten assets of lawmakers and contractors tagged in the construction of overpriced but substandard flood control projects.</p><p>The President has created the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), a panel dedicated to probe issues linked to anomalous anti-flood programs, which has ordered the filing of complaints against individuals such as former Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co.</p><p>“We will continue this campaign on corruption. We will continue our campaign on this abuse and this entitlement that has shocked everyone, myself included,” he said.</p><p>“I know that it will be done. Once we go through this, we will be able to look back and say, ‘Okay, mahirap yung nangyari pero kailangang gawin at worth it yung pagdurusa para sa naging resulta.’ That is what we are hoping for,” he added.</p><p>Marcos also expressed regret over the turn of recent events in the country, saying that these changes are necessary.</p><p>“I am sorry that people suffer because of it but it had to be done, otherwise we will do things the same way, things that we have discovered being done for the last three decades will just continue,” he said.</p><p>Last month, Marcos Jr. vowed to arrest around 40 individuals tagged in the flood control project mess, which is now being referred to as the Philippines’ biggest corruption scandal.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sl1daHU6e7M?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CTz8aDj5HNQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said that the Philippines is having a “difficult time” as his administration tries to weed out corruption in government, likening the ordeal to treating cancer.</p>

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said that the Philippines is having a “difficult time” as his administration tries to weed out corruption in government, likening the ordeal to treating cancer.

Marcos likens corruption mess to cancer but says PH will 'heal very quickly'

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Marcos likens corruption mess to cancer but says PH will 'heal very quickly'

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 04, 2025 09:12 AM PHT

Read More:

Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

flood control scandal

corruption

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