Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president.
Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed.
“Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods.
Photo: EPA
“Someone has to pay for the grave damage and corruption,” he said, adding that he would demand a full list of failed flood control projects and make it public.
After months dominated by a feud with his vice president that left many voters disillusioned, Marcos’ speech leaned heavily into bread-and-butter concerns.
“The people feel a sense of defeat and dismay at the government, especially when it concerns basic services,” he said, referencing disappointing midterm election results in May.
Photo: EPA
“The lesson for us is very simple. We need to do better. We need to work faster,” he said.
Marcos spent much of his 70-minute speech unveiling promises for the second half of his six-year term — from 40,000 more classrooms to new power plants and free dialysis treatments — although he offered little by way of detail.
Notably absent was any explicit mention of the rising tensions with China over disputed areas of the South China Sea that figured heavily in last year’s address.
After 12 months marked by violent clashes at sea and increasingly close military ties with the US, Marcos said only that the country faced “new threats” to its sovereignty, while adding “more allies who can help us in our time of need.”
Numerous high-profile allies of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, whose would-be impeachment trial was scrapped by the Supreme Court on Friday, skipped yesterday’s address, including the president’s sister Philippine Senator Imee Marcos.
The feud between Marcos Jr and the Dutertes loomed large over the May midterms that saw the vice president’s camp outperform expectations.
The duo swept to power in 2022 in an alliance that began crumbling almost immediately. Their feud exploded into open warfare this year with her impeachment, and the subsequent arrest and transfer of her father, former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, to face charges at the International Criminal Court over his deadly drug war.
Marcos had publicly stated that he was against the impeachment while consistently maintaining he was powerless to intervene.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
RSS