MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday that many of at least 37 powerful senators, members of Congress and wealthy businesspeople implicated in a massive corruption scandal involving flood control projects would be locked up in jail by Christmas, as he tried to quell public outrage and street protests.
Marcos said an independent fact-finding commission he created has filed criminal complaints for graft and corruption and plunder, a non-bailable offense, against the 37 suspects. Criminal complaints have also been filed against 86 construction company executives and nine government officials for allegedly evading taxes totaling nearly 9 billion pesos ($152 million).
Corruption has been blamed for substandard, defective or non-existent flood control projects across the country. It’s a especially sensitive issue in the Philippines, one of the countries most prone to deadly typhoons, floodings and extreme weather in Asia.\