(MENAFN) Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday vowed to bring to justice those responsible for fraudulent flood-control projects, as two typhoons this month have claimed at least 259 lives nationwide.

“I know before Christmas many of those named here. Their case will be finished; the case will be complete,” Marcos said. “They’re going to be locked up; they won’t have a Merry Christmas,” he added.

Department of Public Works and Highways chief Vince Dizon said that at least 41 individuals will face charges related to the scheme before Christmas.

During a progress update three months after launching the investigation, Marcos said, “I’m sure we can still recover a lot, so we’ll continue to do that,” referring to ongoing tax-evasion cases against contractors and government officials, with billions of pesos expected to be returned to the state.

Marcos also addressed the involvement of his cousin, former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, noting that he is not part of the initial batch of case referrals “because the only evidence against him is in the Senate.” He added, “If something else comes out, then he might have to be answerable to something. No one is immune to this, no one is exempt from this investigation.”

In September, thousands of protesters across the Philippines, including in Manila, demonstrated against alleged corruption after authorities uncovered mass fraud in around 9,855 flood-control projects valued at more than 545 billion pesos ($9.5 billion).

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