Palace: Pay contractors of good standing Asap
President Marcos has ordered the release “as soon as possible” of payments to contractors of public infrastructure projects who are “of good standing” as part of his government’s commitment to hit economic growth targets this year, a Palace official said on Monday.
“The President has ordered the immediate payment of contractors who have properly delivered on their projects. President Marcos stands firm that the time has come to boost the country’s economy—this even as he personally leads investigations into the widespread misuse of public funds,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said in a briefing.
“He has already issued instructions to department secretaries to ensure that agencies are focused on the fast and efficient implementation of government infrastructure projects so that Filipinos can fully benefit from every project,” she added.
In a meeting with his economic team on Jan. 30, the President urged his Cabinet to finally “move forward” after he ordered last year an investigation of anomalous flood control and infrastructure projects. The corruption scandal has been blamed for the dismal 3-percent economic growth in the last quarter of 2025.
Malacañang admitted that the President put on hold the release of payments to contractors last year at the height of the government probe.
“Because the President was careful in safeguarding public funds, payments were not immediately released to some contractors while projects were being scrutinized—distinguishing those that were properly done from ghost projects or substandard one,” Castro said.
“Now, the President has ordered that all projects that were properly implemented be thoroughly reviewed and that payments be released immediately,” she added.
President’s directive
According to Castro, the President’s directive was for agency heads “to promptly pay contractors who faithfully complied with their contracts.”
“The paperwork just needs to be in order. Once it is determined that there are no problems with the project, payment must be made,” she said.
According to Malacañang, the faster payment process would translate to better work for Filipinos.
Strong coordination and cooperation between national and local governments were also needed to properly monitor if the infrastructure projects were completed.
Malacañang’s pronouncement came after Solita “Winnie” Monsod, professor emeritus of the University of the Philippines’ School of Economics, hit the inefficiency of government officials in tempering the effect of the flood control mess investigation on the economy.
Monsod, who served as chief economist under former President Corazon Aquino, described the sweeping inquiry as “to say the least, quite ineffective, and to say the worst, very dangerous for our economy.”
Monsod’s observations
She noted that at the height of the investigation in the fourth quarter of 2025, many contractors were not paid by the government, leaving many workers in several provinces without their salaries.
“There was a general slowdown in government performance. Government personnel all got scared. Is it because they are guilty [of wrongdoing]? I don’t know,” Monsod said.
“But the fact is, government performance slowed down and it was not necessary to slow down because of these investigations. If that is the case, we better not investigate anymore,” she added.
According to the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DepDev), the economy grew by 4.4 percent last year, with the government missing its growth target for the third straight year.
DepDev Secretary Arsenio Balisacan attributed the lower-than-expected figure to weather-related disruptions, the flood control controversy and global economic uncertainties.
According to Balicasan, the corruption scandal affected business and consumer confidence.
For Monsod, however, the government was to blame for the significant slowdown of the economy.
“It’s not the scandal that caused the freeze in public construction funding. It was the government who froze public construction. That may not show corruption, but that certainly shows inefficiency,” she said.
