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MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared on Monday that even members of his own family and political allies would not be spared from his administration’s anticorruption campaign, citing that the Office of the Ombudsman has begun investigating his cousin, former Speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, over the multibillion-peso flood control scandal.
In his fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona) before a joint session of Congress, Marcos said the government’s antigraft drive had been pursued “without favor or bias,” resulting in the filing of plunder, graft, bribery and money laundering charges against dozens of politicians, former public officials and contractors.
Acknowledging that criminal charges against Romualdez may soon be filed, Marcos said personal ties would not stand in the way of accountability.
“Painful as it may be for us, we have to do what is right,” Marcos said in Filipino.
