Facing a room of global business leaders in Singapore, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was asked how the flood control corruption probe will play out. His answer, by the Philippine Star's account, was less about indictments than about history.
According to The Philippine Star (Alexis Romero), Marcos spoke on October 8 at the 24th Forbes Global CEO Conference in a one-on-one interview with Forbes Media chairman Steve Forbes. He acknowledged that "the corrosive effect and influence of corruption has always reared its ugly head at every level," said it is not confined to government, and argued that the fix involves cultural change as well as systems — behavior once tolerated must be recognized as no longer acceptable.
"A question of changing the way people think"
Marcos told the forum that laws against corruption already exist and that the challenge is "a question of changing the way people think." He tied the problem to colonialism: "When you are a second-class citizen for 300 plus years, you find ways to get around the law." He called the task difficult but "something we absolutely have to do."
What the Star's report does not record is any answer to the investor-facing question as asked: how the flood control investigation itself will unfold. No timeline, no number of cases, no target for convictions appears in the account. That gap is notable given that the Ombudsman's own count, as Pulpulitiko reported last month, stands at 35 flood-control cases in court and 166 more under investigation — figures the President could have cited and, in the published account, did not. The Star's report also did not say whether any follow-up was put to him.
The race weekend
The same trip includes an invitation to the Singapore Grand Prix. According to the Inquirer/ANN report carried by The Star (Malaysia) on October 7, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong personally invited Marcos and would host him for dinner during the F1 event. Ambassador Medardo Macaraig said the Philippines would incur "almost no expense" because the invitation came from Wong, and that Marcos would not have to pay for a ticket. Palace Press Officer Claire Castro could not say whether other expenses would be incurred, and urged focus on the trip's purpose, saying engagements outside formal meetings can help build relationships that lead to investment.
The Manila Times reported on October 9 that the Palace has since confirmed Marcos will attend the race. Marcos is in Singapore from October 7 to 11 on a working visit, with the Forbes conference and a visit to the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute on the schedule, and is expected to promote investment in digital technology and AI, advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, energy and healthcare, per the same report.
What is still unknown
"Almost no expense" is not "no expense," and the Palace has not said what air travel, security and delegation costs the trip will carry. Nor has it said how many officials are accompanying the President.
Analysis: The President's argument — that corruption is a habit of mind — is not unreasonable, and he is right that laws against it already exist. But the point of an existing law is that someone enforces it, and on that the interview as reported offers history rather than a timetable. Telling investors that colonial-era coping habits explain a modern kickback scheme does not tell them when the cases end. The trip arrives, meanwhile, in a month when inflation hit 7.2 percent, as Pulpulitiko reported on October 6, which makes the optics of a race-weekend invitation a hard sell, however little it costs.
Context
Marcos attended the Singapore F1 race in September 2022 at the invitation of then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, when Malacañang described the trip as "partly official, partly personal," and watched the F1 finals in September 2023 during a trip for the Milken Institute's Asia Summit, according to the Inquirer/ANN report.
Sources
- The Philippine Star (Alexis Romero), "Marcos quizzed on corruption by global investors" — philstar.com
- The Star (Malaysia)/Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN, "Marcos' Singapore F1 invite to cost Philippines 'almost no expense': envoy" — thestar.com.my
- The Manila Times, "Marcos will attend F1 Grand Prix, Palace confirms" — manilatimes.net (headline only)
- Pulpulitiko, "Ombudsman: 35 Flood-Control Corruption Cases Now in Courts, 166 More Under Investigation"; "Inflation Lands at 7.2%" — pulpulitiko.com