Featured image above shows Artikulo Onse leaders and members of civil society organizations (CSOs). Seated, from the right are: Atty. Jose Virgilio ‘JV’ Bautista, Atty. Lorenzo ‘Erin’ Tañada III, militant stalwart Leodegario ‘Ka Leody’ De Guzman, and Labor leader Atty. Rene S. Espiritu, Jr. (Photo: SDN) 

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Newly minted anti-corruption group Artikulo Onse — sworn to fight shenanigans in government — urges President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to create an independent commission to go after congressmen, DPWH officials, and contractors allegedly complicit in the billions of pesos projects against flood waters. 

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QUEZON CITY, August 25, 2025 (SDN) – Led by three lawyers, two of them former congressmen, a freshly minted anti-corruption group dubbed Artikulo Onse on Monday, August 25, urged President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to be serious in pursuing erring congressmen, public works officials, and contractors involved in the disastrous flood control projects.

Unmask them, put them in the bar of justice, and haul them to jail if found guilty.

That the President should not stop at shaming those responsible for the wasted billions of pesos in flood control projects feasted on by some in Congress, construction industry, and some officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The ill-repute long attributed to the past Marcos administration that resulted to the first People Power Revolution in 1986 in the country might even be washed, be gone, and the family name may come out clean.

At least this is the suggestion in exchange for the heads of the corrupt mentioned during the formal launch of Artikulo XI (or Arikulo Onse) in a restaurant here at the Quezon City Memorial Circle.

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“(Because) this will eventually, might erase whatever, whatever historical judgment there was on the previous Marcos administration. So, if he is really serious in going after corruption despite the family baggage he has, then this is the point that he can shine.”

Founding leaders of the group, self-styled as anti-corruption advocates seeing the urgency of the moment, such as former congressmen Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III, Jose Virgilio “JV” Bautista (both lawyers), labor exponent Rene S. Espiritu, Jr. (another lawyer), militant leader Leodegario “Ka Leody” De Guzman, and media personality Ricky Rivera, along with leaders of civil society launched the group with over 100 media representatives witnessing the event.

The group’s name is a namesake of Article XI of the 1987 Constitution titled “Accountability of Public Officers” as it underscores that “public office is a public trust” and that those in government are accountable to the people.

Recall that in his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28 nearly a month ago, the President exposed the horrible state of the flood control projects which are either poorly constructed and defective, unfinished, and even non-existent or ghost infrastructure.

Bautista, secretary general of United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), noted the timing of the group’s launching on the same period that National Heroes’ Day was being celebrated, saying Artikulo Onse’s launch was “fitting and proper”.

He noted the spate of revelations on the details of alleged graft and corruption in government projects, obviously referring to the exposé of the President in his latest SONA that lit the darkness that covered shenanigans in the implementation — or non-implementation — of the now-much maligned multibillion pesos flood control projects where congressmen, DPWH officials, and contractors are suspected to be complicit.

Bautista claimed that many members of Congress, including from the party-list groups are contractors themselves. “The voice of the people should be strengthened. Congress itself is saying that there really is corruption.”

The Artikulo Onse founder called on the citizens to lend their voice and join in shaming the corrupt in government.

In China, he said people caught for corruption are shot to death.

Artikulo Onse suggests Baguio City Mayor Benjie Magaling as commission member

Tañada, Bautista, De Guzman, Esguerra and Rivera were one in calling for an independent fact-finding commission to dig deeper into the anomalous flood control projects.

They said the commission’s members must be people of integrity, credibility, and probity — from the clergy, former magistrates, Labor leaders, and other people with integrity.

One of the prominent names the quartet suggested was Baguio City Mayor Benjamin “Benjie” Magalong who described the hearing on the anomalous projects at the House of Representatives as only a “moro-moro”, apparently meaning as just a show, a charade.

The native of Baguio City, Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR), is a staunch stalwart of the Mayors 4 Good Governance (M4GG), an anti-corruption group of local government executives.

At the event on Monday morning, Tañada hoped that Marcos’s interest does not stop at just screaming “mahiya naman kayo (you should be ashamed), dahil alam natin na talagang talamak ang corruption dito sa ating bansa (because we know that corruption is truly rampant here in our country).”

The Liberal Party (LP) stalwart even suggested that the Marcos name’s bad reputation might get done away with.

He recalled the period when PDAF projects in 2013 were the milking cow of some legislators in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

He said it was then the PDAF scam, “now it’s a different scam, soft projects then of congressmen (and senators), now, hard projects, infrastructure.”

Corruption in Philippines now an “existential problem”

The former congressman adds:

“Training or fertilizers or whatever they (legislators) would nominate, that’s why a (Janet Lim) Napoles emerged. Now it is no longer soft, but hard, infrastructure. At dito alam natin na endemic ang corruption. Kaya importante ang sinasabi ng Pangulo ay hindi mahinto sa panghihiya lamang sa mga contractors, sa mga pulitiko, sa mga district engineers, or the secretary of DPWH, for that matter. Pero kailangan po na kung iniisip niya na iba siyang Marcos sa pamamalakad ngayon ay kailangan niyang habulin itong mga taong ito (And here, we know that corruption is endemic. So, it’s important that what the President is doing does not stop at only shaming contractors, politicians, and district engineers,  or the DPWH secretary, for that matter. But if he thinks that he is today a different Marcos in governance, then he needs to go after these people).”

Tañada says, “(Because) this will eventually, might erase whatever, whatever historical judgment there was on the previous Marcos administration. So, if he is really serious in going after corruption despite the family baggage he has, then this is the point that he can shine,” Tañada, third generation and scion of an illustrious Filipino family, suggests at the event.

“If he is serious, he should create an independent commission, huwag po natin iwanan sa ating mga congressman at mga senator ang imbestigasyon (let’s not leave the investigation to our congressmen and senators). Especially the 2026 budget is being discussed.”

Tañada, acting president of the LP,  emphasized that the flood waters exposed not just the country’s fragile infrastructure but also cracks in governance, missing billions of pesos, and the erosion of public trust.

Shame Campaign to be launched

“Every peso lost to corruption is a classroom left unfinished, a health center never completed, a family unprotected against disaster,” he says, reading a prepared statement.

“This controversy over flood control projects highlights an urgent need for stronger safeguards for the people’s money. The Liberal Party, therefore, calls… for the passage of genuine Freedom of Information Law (FOI). One that opens government transactions to citizens, makes contracts accessible, and places accountability at the center of public service.

“We call on the current administration to act with courage, create an independent commission. Transparency strengthens institutions, accountability restores trust. If you want to end the cycle of corruption and poverty, we must open the books and shine the light on where the money goes,” the former congressman emphasizes.

Militant leader De Guzman, chair of Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), with ubiquitous presence in many press conferences, agrees with Tañada.

“Not just imprisoned and shamed. Make a statue of them in Luneta (Rizal) Park for the people to slap criminals like what China does to those found guilty (of wrongdoing),” he adds.

Labor leader Esguerra, president of Bukluran ng Manggagawang Filipino (BMP) connected impacts of climate change to corruption.

He said the irreversible climatic phenomena — apparently referring to torrential rain, intense flooding, landslides, El Niño, La Niña — “that are happening in the country and experienced by Filipinos where many are killed, and then they will even steal (the people’s money). They don’t just steal, they also do not implement (projects),” he points out.

“The corrupt politicians are murderers,” he claims, “because there are many killed in the floods, landslides.”

Rivera, one of the founders of Artikulo Onse, said at the event the group will create a website where Filipinos can access and post reports, photographs that are relevant to corruption instances in government.

He said the group already has a network of over 70 organizations even as he ask others to join.

At the launch, he said an informer he did not identify sent a photograph of a government official who was seated in a casino, apparently gambling away money. He said the official’s gambling occurred only a few days after the flood control projects broke out and shook the nation.

Rivera is confident more such images and reports will be received by the online platform of their group.

Artikulo Onse plans to launch their “Shame Campaign” to expose government officials engaged in corruption, which they said has become an “existential problem” in the Philippines. — EDD K.U. (™)

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