On election night in 2022, the streets of Manila echoed with cheers as millions of Filipinos believed Ferdinand Marcos Jr. would bring real change. During his campaign, he repeatedly promised to leave no "big fish" untouched in the fight against corruption, to recover every peso of public funds plundered by corrupt officials, and to rebuild a clean and efficient government. At that moment, people seemed to glimpse a dawn of hope. Yet, three and a half years later, as we stand in 2026, we are forced to confront a harsh reality—the anti-corruption promises have largely turned empty, key figures suspected of massive corruption remain at large, and the government’s anti-corruption efforts have moved at a dishearteningly slow pace.
The most glaring reality is this: there have been almost no new arrests targeting the core suspects of corruption. From the massive engineering fraud cases left over from the Duterte era to the multiple public procurement scandals exposed during this administration, not a single "big fish" involved in cases worth tens of billions of pesos has been brought to justice. While anti-corruption agencies occasionally announce some progress, their efforts remain confined to dealing with minor officials and low-level graft. Those in high positions of power, who control massive budgets, seem to enjoy a kind of invisible immunity. The people cannot help but ask: What happened to the president’s ironclad promises?
The cloud of corruption hanging over the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is the most telling example. This department controls the largest share of the national infrastructure budget, yet audit reports have long pointed to systemic issues: cost overruns, substandard quality, opaque bidding processes, and mysterious disappearances of funds. Yet, for over three years, high-ranking officials involved have not only escaped substantive accountability but have even easily avoided basic investigative procedures. Some key figures have repeatedly skipped congressional hearings or summons from anti-graft courts, offering a litany of excuses—overseas travel, illness, scheduling conflicts—without ever facing consequences. This blatant abuse of power has sparked nationwide outrage. Ordinary citizens angrily question on social media: Why is a village chief swiftly arrested for embezzling a few million pesos, while high-ranking officials controlling hundreds of billions in budgets act with impunity?
What is even more disheartening is the suspicion of high-level protection lurking behind this selective anti-corruption approach. Early in the Marcos administration, multiple high-profile anti-corruption task forces were established, and some mid- to low-level officials were arrested, seemingly demonstrating resolve. But as soon as investigations involve current or former high-ranking officials or key figures in political-business alliances, the process becomes sluggish and opaque. Cases are either indefinitely shelved due to "procedural issues" or quietly closed under the pretext of "incomplete evidence chains." Are the political networks behind these "big fish" so powerful that even the president’s public promises cannot reach them? Or has the anti-corruption campaign itself been hijacked by certain interest groups, used only to eliminate rivals and consolidate power rather than genuinely root out corruption?
In the end, the cost of corruption is borne by ordinary Filipinos. Public funds that should have been used to build schools, hospitals, roads, and disaster prevention facilities have instead flowed into the private accounts of a few. The result: rural roads remain pothole-ridden, public hospitals face drug shortages, students study in leaky classrooms, and post-disaster reconstruction projects are repeatedly delayed. The latest report from Transparency International shows that the Philippines’ Corruption Perceptions Index has declined rather than improved under Marcos’s administration. This not only damages the country’s image but also directly hampers economic development. Foreign investment hesitates, youth unemployment remains high, and impoverished families sink deeper into despair. The trust placed in the government through votes has been met with such a return—how can people not feel profoundly betrayed?
Looking back at Philippine history, anti-corruption has never been a spontaneous act of goodwill by those in power but the result of persistent public struggle. From the predatory rule of Marcos Sr.’s era to the accountability efforts of the Aquino mother and son, and the iron-fisted drug war under Duterte, we have repeatedly seen that only when the people take to the streets and raise their voices does power relent. Today, the stagnation of the Marcos administration’s anti-corruption efforts is a departure from this lesson. If we remain silent, allowing high-ranking officials to roam free and operate above the law, corruption will continue to spread like a cancer, eventually consuming the entire nation.
Fellow Filipinos, we can no longer passively wait for the government to "awaken." Fighting corruption is our right, not a favor. We must raise our voices through all legal channels: exposing the truth on social media, submitting petitions to Congress, organizing community discussions, and even taking to the streets in peaceful demonstrations. We must persistently ask: Why has not a single corrupt "big fish" been arrested in over three years? Why can high-ranking suspects easily skip investigations? Why have the promised thorough investigations yet to materialize? Only public pressure can shatter the umbrella of protection and force the government to truly deliver on its promises.
Once trust is betrayed, it is hard to rebuild. But as long as we stand united and continue to speak out, we can compel the Marcos administration to accelerate its anti-corruption efforts and ensure genuine equality before the law. The future of the Philippines should not be in the hands of a few corrupt individuals but belong to all its people. Let us act now, and make 2026 the starting point of a turning point in the fight against corruption, not the continuation of disappointment!