KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 21 September) – South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. declared his support to the nationwide protests on Sunday and joined calls to end the “systemic” corruption in government, especially in infrastructure projects.
Tamayo, League of Provinces of the Philippines national president, said the people, especially the youth, are now well-aware of the situation and are right in venting their frustration and anger over the decades-old problem on corruption, which he said has hampered the delivery of proper public services.
“Kaya’t ako bilang pangulo ng Liga ng mga Probinsya ng Pilipinas, nakikiisa kami sa protesta ng mga kababayan natin. Nakikiisa kami sa panawagan na dapat itigil na ang ganyang Sistema. Itigil na ang korapsyon dahil nasasakripisyo na, hindi lang ang ating henerasyon, kundi pati susunod na henerasyon (As president of the League of Provinces of the Philippines, we unite with the protests by our people. We are united with the calls to end that [corrupt] system. Corruption must end because it sacrifices not only the current but even the next generations),” he said in a video message on Sunday noon.
The governor said that despite being a close ally of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and national president of the ruling Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, the province never asked nor received even “a million pesos” worth of project in the first three years of the current administration.
He said he and provincial officials could not stomach giving up 20 to 30 percent of a project’s cost to alleged kickbacks “asked by those in Congress” and others “up there.”
The governor, currently on his third term, said he confided the matter to the President after the May 2025 elections.
“I was surprised during the SONA [state-of-the-nation address] when he made those revelations [about flood control anomalies]. He might have investigated it and saw its extent,” Tamayo said.
The governor reiterated his support to the President’s directions in curbing corruption in government, among them the extensive investigation into irregularities in flood control and other related projects.
The President issued Executive Order No. 94 on September 11, creating the Independent Commission for Infrastructure to investigate and recommend appropriate charges against government officials, employees, or individuals involved in anomalies in flood control and related projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways within the last 10 years. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)
