MANILA - The Philippines' 34 large business groups have urged Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos to address the "historic, massive and unprecedented corruption scandal" plaguing the country, condemning it as a "crisis" that has eroded public trust and now threatens national security.

"We, the major business organizations representing members across all sectors -- large, medium, small, and micro-enterprises -- are co-signing this resolution, urgently calling on your administration to address, without delay, the historic, massive, and unprecedented corruption scandal crippling our flood control and infrastructure projects. A crisis that has eroded public trust and now threatens our national security," the business groups said in a joint statement released on Sunday.

"We have contributed to national funds through taxes locally and nationally, and have paid additional assessment of taxes ... Yet, trillions of pesos supplied and intended to protect our communities from disasters have been squandered through ghost projects, substandard work, and inflated contracts," said the statement co-signed by leading business groups, including the Makati Business Club, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Employers' Confederation of the Philippines.

"This is more than financial loss, it is a fatal breach of public trust that leaves our people vulnerable and outraged," the statement said.

They urged Marcos to empower the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) "with full legal authority and independence to conduct a swift, comprehensive investigation, free from political influence."

READ MORE: Philippines' Marcos forms anti-graft body over flood project corruption

The groups further urged Marcos "to prosecute all those responsible, impartially and without regard of rank, position, and political affiliation, or personal relations," and "to implement institutional reforms, ensure restitution of ill-gotten wealth and embezzled funds of the government, and strengthen procurement and oversight systems, preventing future abuse."

The groups also demanded that the current government should "provide regular public updates on the progress of investigations and reforms and to publicly disclose all audit findings to demonstrate genuine commitment and credibility."

In September, Marcos established the ICI as a fact-finding body mandated to investigate alleged corruption, irregularities, and misuse of funds in government flood control and related projects within the last 10 years, amid mounting concerns that have eroded public trust.

The ongoing investigations have identified several former and incumbent lawmakers, as well as officials, who were allegedly involved in those anomalies.

Last week, the Philippines' chief economist said that the country's economy is expected to slow down in the second half of 2025, partly due to the corruption scandal.

Filipinos have taken their outrage to the streets, with thousands joining protest actions, calling on the government to expedite investigations into anomalous infrastructure projects and to hold accountable those found to be responsible for siphoning billions of pesos of taxpayers' money into their own pockets.