“When you have to excise a cancer out of such a complicated system, you need to do some very major surgery.”
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. likened the administration’s ongoing reforms against corruption to a major surgery needed to remove a cancer, assuring that the country “may be bleeding now, but we will also heal very, very quickly.”
Speaking before the Malacañang Press Corps on Wednesday, President Marcos acknowledged that the campaign to stamp out corruption has been difficult, as the country continues to endure the painful consequences of dismantling entrenched abuses and overhauling a deeply flawed system.
“The truth of the matter is, it really has been a difficult time because I knew that what we were starting would really be disruptive, but we are trying precisely to change the entire system,” the President said.
“And when you have to excise a cancer out of such a complicated system, you need to do some very major surgery. And to do that, when you do that, you will bleed. And that is what we had to go through. We had to go through that,” the President added.
President Marcos continued, “I am sorry that people suffered because of it, but it had to be done. Otherwise, we will do things the same way that we have always done, that the things that we have discovered that are being done for the last three decades will just continue.”
The Chief Executive said the nation must endure the pain and anguish that come with such reforms, but expressed confidence in the Filipino people’s resilience.
“So we have to go through that pain, go through difficulty, go through the anguish that the country is going through now. But we are Filipinos. We may be bleeding now, but we will also heal very, very quickly,” President Marcos emphasized.
President Marcos exposed irregularities in flood control and infrastructure projects during his Fourth State of the Nation Address on July 28, 2025.
The President later established the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), which investigated anomalous flood control and other projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and recommended filing charges against several individuals implicated in the scandal.
The Office of the Ombudsman has also filed complaints against several personalities, while the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has issued freeze orders for around PhP12 billion worth of assets of individuals linked to the corruption scheme.
President Marcos said the administration remains firmly on track with its reform agenda, adding that the administration knows exactly what steps must be taken and will continue its campaign against abuses, entitlement, and irregular practices.
“So, it’s not as if we are lost and we do not know what we are going to do. We know what we are going to do, and we will continue this campaign against corruption. We will continue our campaign on this abuse and this entitlement that has shocked everyone, myself included,” the President said.
President Marcos expressed optimism that once the nation overcomes this period, it will emerge stronger and more capable of preventing similar problems in the future.
“So I hope that once we go through this, and I know it will be done, once we go through this, that we will be able to look back on this and say, ‘Okay, mahirap iyong nangyari pero kailangan gawin at worth it iyong pagdusa na pinagdaanan natin para sa naging resulta. That is what we are hoping for,” the President added.
President Marcos emphasized that, “There is very little time to do it but I really think if we work 24/7 like we always have, I think we can do it.” (PND)
