Arrests come amid outrage over ‘ghost’ flood control projects estimated to have cost the Philippines $2bn.Seven people have been arrested in the Philippines as part of an investigation into a sprawling corruption scandal related to flood control projects in the Southeast Asian country, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has announced.The suspects are among more than a dozen people indicted by the Sandiganbayan, a special anticorruption court, in the first of what are expected to be numerous probes into so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe arrests come two months after Marcos formed a commission to look into the scandal, which the Department of Finance estimates cost the country up to 118.5 billion pesos ($2bn), after thousands of people took to the streets of Manila in September to demand accountability.In a video address shared on Facebook on Monday, Marcos said two wanted suspects were ready to surrender, while seven remained at large.Marcos warned that anybody helping the fugitives to hide would also be held accountable under the law.“To the rest, give up,” Marcos said, mentioning Zaldy Co, a former member of the House of Representatives, by name.Officials have said Co’s family owns Sunwest Corporation, the construction firm contracted to build a dike on Mag-asawang Tubig River in Oriental Mindoro province.The project, worth 289 million pesos ($4.9m), is the first to be scrutinised by …
