Republic Act No. 9492 designated the last Monday of August as National Heroes Day, serving as an opportunity for the nation to remember the sacrifices and contributions of all Filipino heroes and the bravery they exemplified for their countrymen. According to the Light of Love Events Place in the Philippines, it is a time for Filipinos to reflect on the contributions of historical figures, from the revolutionary leaders of the past to modern-day heroes shaping the country’s future.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., in his message during the National Heroes’ Day commemoration at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, warned that his administration will hold accountable those who steal from public coffers in relation to anomalous flood control projects and other public works projects.
The president urged Filipinos to help stop corruption and abuse of power in government and rallied the nation to fight corruption. What can we therefore do as overseas-based Filipinos?
1. Be responsible social media commentators – Reshare and react on posts that exposes corruption coming from credible sources like non-aligned institutions, independent opinion-makers, academic bodies, and well-established media outlets, among others.
The more people will read and reshare contents that are accurate and impartial, the more pressure will be on the unscrupulous individuals and companies who might become whistleblowers or even state witnesses.
2. Be resourceful private investigators and share information on this website – https://sumbongsapangulo.ph/
President Marcos launched the ‘Sumbong sa Pangulo’ website urging citizens to fulfill their civic duty by directly reporting to him any non-operational or anomalous flood control projects in their areas. It was created after his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) which he delivered on July 28 days after the country experienced widespread flooding in Luzon.
Consequently, the president on August 11 presented a list of 15 contractors out of more than 2,000 contractors which cornered P100 billion of the entire P545-billion budget for flood control projects since July 2022. Several days after, he ordered the blacklisting of contractors behind anomalous flood control projects from securing new government contracts.
Last August 20, the president ordered a construction company immediately blacklisted and charged for a ‘ghost’ flood control project in Baliuag, Bulacan. He directed the action taken against SYMS Construction Trading after conducting an inspection in Baliuag to verify a report sent via the sumbongsapangulo.ph website about a non-existent concrete river wall.
He recently ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways to reinstitute the standard operating procedure (SOP) of getting the acceptance of local government units before declaring a public works project as complete, to prevent corruption and ensure quality projects.
Let’s do our civic duty to care for our beloved Philippines as modern-day heroes by exposing anomalous public works projects.
Note: The columnist is a 24-year resident of Dubai and is currently working as Head of Corporate Communications of a global energy logistics company. He used to be a former Filipino Community Leader as chairman of the Philippine Independence Day Execom in 2008 and as one of the founding officers of the Filipino Social Club in 2019. He can be reached at: artlosbanos@gmail.com
