'Clean your House first!': Bersamin slams lawmakers for 'shifting blame' over budget, flood control mess
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin did not mince words when he defended the Executive Branch from "recent spins" coming from House of Representatives members amid the probe into flood control projects.
"The Cabinet strongly objects to the recent spins coming from certain members of the [House] who are thereby attempting to shift the blame for their own corruption and failures onto the Executive Branch," he said in a statement on Aug. 6 evening.
Bersamin added that the Cabinet will not tolerate any attack on the integrity and reputation of the Executive Branch, as well as efforts to "hold the budget process hostage by political theatrics."
"All our investigations into the anomalies will be futile if the sources of corruption remain unchecked. Hence, we urge the House of Representatives to heed the demand of the people for full accountability: CLEAN YOUR HOUSE FIRST!"
This comes after the House planned to return the proposed P6.7 trillion budget for the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) to the Department of Budget and Management over erroneous items on Sept. 3.
According to House Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno, the 2026 budget allegedly had allocations for infrastructure projects that were already finished.
A day later, the lower chamber dropped the said plan and instead agreed to conduct longer committee-level deliberations for agencies with budget discrepancies.
On Sept. 1, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that the NEP contained insertions that still needed to be addressed.
"The more we look, the more we find. Kahit sa 2026 budget, marami pa ring siningit. [It] really needs to be cleaned out properly," he told reporters.
Marcos is set to create an independent commission that will investigate anomalous flood control projects and other Department of Public Works and Highways projects.
'Make corruption shameful again'
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, in a pastoral letter on flood control projects on Sept. 6, called to "make corruption shameful again."
CBCP president Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David said that the rebuke shouldn't only be directed at contractors, but also legislators, district engineers, government auditors, and political patrons, who "also share in the plunder."
"True justice, however, demands more than punishment. It also calls for restitution: that stolen wealth be returned to the public coffers from which it was taken. Many of those implicated will not be impoverished by such reparation, yet the nation remains poor if the funds are not restored. Retribution in this sense is not personal vengeance but the rightful act of giving back what was stolen, so that the people may finally benefit from resources meant for their welfare," he wrote.
David also urged the youth to "use your platforms not only for outrage, but for vigilance."
"Expose injustice, share facts, demand reforms."
