[Closer Look] Black hole in Marcos SONA highlights selective justice

The reason why Marcos can’t bring his flood-control crusade to the finish line isn’t really about his wishy-washy personality. It starts from the original sin — Team Unity — a union of corrupt dynasties. A pitch-perfect opening to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA) continued his 2025 theme of accountability, earning applause from anti-corruption advocates in the audience. In political performance, however, what’s left out is more important than what’s said. Marcos’ latest SONA contains a black hole that will hound him in his last two years in office. The President’s 2025 address exposed a massive flood-control scandal. Officials later estimated losses of P118.5 billion from 2022 to 2024 alone, or more than 20 percent of the P545-billion budget for flood control projects. Since then, the President donned the mantle of Mr. Clean — he can’t be dirty because he blew the whistle. On July 27, he announced the Ombudsman was ready to file a slew of cases against former House speaker Martin Romualdez, the President’s first cousin. “Masakit man sa atin ito, kailangan nating gawin ang tama. Hindi ako Pangulo ng aking pamilya. Hindi ako Pangulo ng aking kaibigan. Pangulo ako ng bayan,” said Marcos. The clan showed message discipline on SONA day. House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos stammered, “Put country first,” in reaction to the bad news about his uncle and political mentor. The former speaker’s statement echoed his cousin’s tone: “It may be painful for my family, but I respect the statements of the President.” Corruption-weary Filipinos want to see a big fish hauled to court — preferably with the same unbailable status as Senator Jinggoy Estrada and former senator Bong Revilla. Another senator, Rodante Marcoleta, also faces plunder raps but for undeclared and illegal campaign contributions. We don’t know when Romualdez’s plunder, graft, bribery, and money-laundering cases will finally land in the Sandiganbayan. But the day after the SONA, the Ombudsman formally started its preliminary investigation into allegations that he raked in P56 billion in ill-gotten wealth from flood-control scams. It ordered Romualdez, his aide Jocelyn Sereño, former House appropriations committee chair Zaldy Co, lawyers Jose Raulito Paras and Hermogene Real, and executives of Samchan Foreign Exchange Corp. to submit counter-affidavits. Diversionary? Despite the drama, critics of the Marcoses, including those seeking the end of the rival Duterte dynasty, believe the former speaker is just a pretend sacrificial lamb, a temporary sop to public outrage over selective justice. This fear rests on valid grounds. Some things just don’t compute. It will be very hard for the Ombudsman to demolish Romualdez and company while maintaining the fiction that no dirt trail reached Malacañang and the President. In her latest Rappler’s Best newsletter, executive editor Glenda Gloria lists every close aide and friend of the President who received slaps on the hand or rewards after being linked to the flood control scandal. They include former Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman — accused of instructing the insertion of P100 billion in flood-control and infrastructure programs into the 2025 national budget. Marcos has just appointed her as chair and CEO of the state-owned Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines. The release of programmed funds requires the budget Secretary’s signature, and unprogrammed appropriations (UAs) need the President’s approval. In November 2025, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) reported that flood control accounted for more than half of the P213.8 billion unprogrammed funds for the President’s priority infrastructure projects in 2023 and 2024. PCIJ found that many of these were “not included in any government master plan.” It also noted the absence of oversight. ALSO ON RAPPLER How much unprogrammed appropriations in 2026 budget? Marcos vetoes less than half of unprogrammed appropriations in 2026 budget [In This Economy] Unprogrammed funds: The new pork SC oral arguments zero in on unprogrammed funds This is not to say Romualdez or Co are innocent, or even less guilty. Even before Marcos appropriated a whistleblower role, Rappler reporter Dwight de Leon already mapped Co’s “scandal-plagued business fortunes”. The Ombudsman’s supplemental documents also mention the exclusive investigation by Rappler’s Jodesz Gavilan on several high-end estates that Romualdez has tried to hide under a complex web of interlocking parties. Original sin A protracted court brawl with his cousin opens Marcos to a real risk of losing political capital in the House of Representatives as his political enemies escalate attacks against him. Romualdez orchestrated the House probe that eventually led to the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, who is now facing trial in the Senate. It will be surreal for House prosecutors, many of whom were among the 291 lawmakers who signed a statement of support for their Speaker in January 2025, to see him in jail while Senator Chiz Escudero — the former Senate President who sat on their first impeachment complaint and who the Ombudsman once also mentioned as a candidate for plunder raps — presides over Duterte’s impeachment trial. The reason why Marcos can’t bring his flood-control crusade to the finish line isn’t really about his wishy-washy personality. It starts from the original sin — Team Unity — a union of corrupt dynasties. Marcos cannot root out corruption, not when the trail leads to him. – Rappler.com How does this make you feel? Loading