\n<\/p>\n
Ministers implicated in scandal involving misused and stolen funds earmarked for anti-flooding infrastructure.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\nPublished On 19 Nov 2025<\/span>19 Nov 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/p>\nClick here to share on social media<\/p>\nshare2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Two ministers in Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr\u2019s cabinet resigned on Tuesday after being implicated in an ongoing investigation into \u201cghost\u201d infrastructure and billions of dollars of missing government funds, deepening a crisis facing the country\u2019s government over the corruption scandal.<\/p>\n<p>Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Department of Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman have both stepped down from their posts, presidential palace press officer Claire Castro said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Castro said the pair chose to resign \u201cafter their departments were mentioned in allegations related to the flood control anomaly\u201d and \u201cin recognition of the responsibility to allow the administration to address the matter appropriately,\u201d according to The Philippines Inquirer newspaper.<\/p>\n<p>Bersamin and Pangandaman are the highest-ranking members of the Marcos government to be hit directly by the corruption scandal since it broke in July, according to Aries Arugay, an expert in Philippines politics and a visiting senior fellow at Singapore\u2019s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.<\/p>\n<p>Marcos himself has managed to stay above the fray \u2013 for now \u2013 although Arugay said that could change at any time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the moment, the palace is trying to take the president out of this, and this is why you have the \u2018resignations\u2019 of the executive secretary, the budget secretary. They\u2019re the ones accepting command responsibility over this,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>Arugay said Marcos Jr still has a \u201ccomfortable\u201d majority in the legislature because many MPs still prefer him to leadership under Vice President Sara Duterte, but \u201call bets are off\u201d should more evidence emerge.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, politician Zaldy Co \u2013 who is currently not in the Philippines \u2013 alleged that Marcos directed him to add $1.7bn to the budget for \u201cdubious public works\u201d while he headed an appropriations committee, according to The South China Morning Post, although the claims have not been verified.<\/p>\n<p>Co was among the first group of officials to be charged this week for their role in the corruption scandal following a months-long investigation, according to The Philippines Inquirer.<\/p>\n<p>The scandal has engulfed the Philippines since Marcos Jr revealed in a speech to Congress earlier this year that billions of dollars of public funds for anti-flooding infrastructure had been siphoned off by private contractors to build substandard infrastructure \u2013 and in some cases, none at all.<\/p>\n<p>The Philippines is regularly hit by typhoons and other tropical storms, and flooding remains a perennial and often deadly problem.<\/p>\n<p>The corruption scandal has set off mass protests across the Philippines, including a demonstration on Sunday that drew 500,000 people to Manila.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ministers implicated in scandal involving misused and stolen funds earmarked for anti-flooding infrastructure. Published On 19 Nov 202519 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Two ministers in Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr\u2019s cabinet resigned on Tuesday after being implicated in an ongoing investigation into \u201cghost\u201d infrastructure and billions of dollars […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Published On 19 Nov 2025<\/span>19 Nov 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/p>\nClick here to share on social media<\/p>\nshare2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Two ministers in Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr\u2019s cabinet resigned on Tuesday after being implicated in an ongoing investigation into \u201cghost\u201d infrastructure and billions of dollars of missing government funds, deepening a crisis facing the country\u2019s government over the corruption scandal.<\/p>\n<p>Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Department of Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman have both stepped down from their posts, presidential palace press officer Claire Castro said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Castro said the pair chose to resign \u201cafter their departments were mentioned in allegations related to the flood control anomaly\u201d and \u201cin recognition of the responsibility to allow the administration to address the matter appropriately,\u201d according to The Philippines Inquirer newspaper.<\/p>\n<p>Bersamin and Pangandaman are the highest-ranking members of the Marcos government to be hit directly by the corruption scandal since it broke in July, according to Aries Arugay, an expert in Philippines politics and a visiting senior fellow at Singapore\u2019s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.<\/p>\n<p>Marcos himself has managed to stay above the fray \u2013 for now \u2013 although Arugay said that could change at any time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the moment, the palace is trying to take the president out of this, and this is why you have the \u2018resignations\u2019 of the executive secretary, the budget secretary. They\u2019re the ones accepting command responsibility over this,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>Arugay said Marcos Jr still has a \u201ccomfortable\u201d majority in the legislature because many MPs still prefer him to leadership under Vice President Sara Duterte, but \u201call bets are off\u201d should more evidence emerge.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, politician Zaldy Co \u2013 who is currently not in the Philippines \u2013 alleged that Marcos directed him to add $1.7bn to the budget for \u201cdubious public works\u201d while he headed an appropriations committee, according to The South China Morning Post, although the claims have not been verified.<\/p>\n<p>Co was among the first group of officials to be charged this week for their role in the corruption scandal following a months-long investigation, according to The Philippines Inquirer.<\/p>\n<p>The scandal has engulfed the Philippines since Marcos Jr revealed in a speech to Congress earlier this year that billions of dollars of public funds for anti-flooding infrastructure had been siphoned off by private contractors to build substandard infrastructure \u2013 and in some cases, none at all.<\/p>\n<p>The Philippines is regularly hit by typhoons and other tropical storms, and flooding remains a perennial and often deadly problem.<\/p>\n<p>The corruption scandal has set off mass protests across the Philippines, including a demonstration on Sunday that drew 500,000 people to Manila.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ministers implicated in scandal involving misused and stolen funds earmarked for anti-flooding infrastructure. Published On 19 Nov 202519 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Two ministers in Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr\u2019s cabinet resigned on Tuesday after being implicated in an ongoing investigation into \u201cghost\u201d infrastructure and billions of dollars […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n
share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Two ministers in Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr\u2019s cabinet resigned on Tuesday after being implicated in an ongoing investigation into \u201cghost\u201d infrastructure and billions of dollars of missing government funds, deepening a crisis facing the country\u2019s government over the corruption scandal.<\/p>\n<p>Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Department of Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman have both stepped down from their posts, presidential palace press officer Claire Castro said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Castro said the pair chose to resign \u201cafter their departments were mentioned in allegations related to the flood control anomaly\u201d and \u201cin recognition of the responsibility to allow the administration to address the matter appropriately,\u201d according to The Philippines Inquirer newspaper.<\/p>\n<p>Bersamin and Pangandaman are the highest-ranking members of the Marcos government to be hit directly by the corruption scandal since it broke in July, according to Aries Arugay, an expert in Philippines politics and a visiting senior fellow at Singapore\u2019s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.<\/p>\n<p>Marcos himself has managed to stay above the fray \u2013 for now \u2013 although Arugay said that could change at any time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the moment, the palace is trying to take the president out of this, and this is why you have the \u2018resignations\u2019 of the executive secretary, the budget secretary. They\u2019re the ones accepting command responsibility over this,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>Arugay said Marcos Jr still has a \u201ccomfortable\u201d majority in the legislature because many MPs still prefer him to leadership under Vice President Sara Duterte, but \u201call bets are off\u201d should more evidence emerge.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, politician Zaldy Co \u2013 who is currently not in the Philippines \u2013 alleged that Marcos directed him to add $1.7bn to the budget for \u201cdubious public works\u201d while he headed an appropriations committee, according to The South China Morning Post, although the claims have not been verified.<\/p>\n<p>Co was among the first group of officials to be charged this week for their role in the corruption scandal following a months-long investigation, according to The Philippines Inquirer.<\/p>\n<p>The scandal has engulfed the Philippines since Marcos Jr revealed in a speech to Congress earlier this year that billions of dollars of public funds for anti-flooding infrastructure had been siphoned off by private contractors to build substandard infrastructure \u2013 and in some cases, none at all.<\/p>\n<p>The Philippines is regularly hit by typhoons and other tropical storms, and flooding remains a perennial and often deadly problem.<\/p>\n<p>The corruption scandal has set off mass protests across the Philippines, including a demonstration on Sunday that drew 500,000 people to Manila.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ministers implicated in scandal involving misused and stolen funds earmarked for anti-flooding infrastructure. Published On 19 Nov 202519 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Two ministers in Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr\u2019s cabinet resigned on Tuesday after being implicated in an ongoing investigation into \u201cghost\u201d infrastructure and billions of dollars […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}