Senator Panfilo Lacson’s privilege speech, “Flooded Gates of Corruption,” should shake the foundations of Philippine governance. His charge that only 40 percent of flood control funds actually reach construction is more than an accounting anomaly. It is a national indictment. When trillions of pesos are poured into dikes, drainage, and diversions, and yet our streets remain submerged after every storm, we must confront the obvious: the real flood drowning this country is corruption.
The Business of Corruption
What Lacson described is not petty theft but an industrial-scale enterprise. A “passing through fee” here, a “royalty” there, terms so sanitized they sound like line items in a corporate budget. In reality, they are bribes institutionalized into the DNA of public works. This is not leakage; it is design.
And businesses, not just taxpayers, pay the price. Every shipment delayed by flooded roads, every factory shut down by rising waters, every insurer forced to raise premiums because projects collapse under the first typhoon; these are hidden taxes imposed by corruption. They bleed competitiveness, scare off foreign investors, and punish honest contractors who refuse to play the game.
The Governance Mirage
We are told that over ₱1.9 trillion has been allocated for flood control since 2011, with ₱1 trillion released in just the last three years. If these numbers were real in practice, Metro Manila and Bulacan should be Venice with better plumbing. Instead, they are showcases of waste, ghost projects, and dikes that crumble like cardboard.
This is not merely an infrastructure issue; it is a governance crisis. When bids and awards committees, district engineers, and even auditors have “standard shares” in the pie, what remains of accountability? Investors, especially ESG-driven funds, see these scandals not as isolated incidents but as systemic red flags. And once trust is gone, capital flees faster than floodwaters.
The Economic Opportunity Cost
The tragedy is not just the billions stolen; it is the billions in growth foregone. Funds meant to secure communities and supply chains have instead secured political war chests. Money that could have boosted productivity has been diverted into private vaults. For a country battered yearly by climate risk, this is not mismanagement. It is sabotage.
A Call Beyond Rhetoric
President Marcos deserves credit for purging some DPWH officials. But piecemeal purges will not drain the swamp. What is needed is systemic reform:
- Transparent procurement that eliminates “insertions” and opaque allocations.
- Independent audits insulated from political networks.
- Whistleblower protections that empower insiders to speak without fear.
Anything less is theater.
The Real Flood
Typhoons are natural. Floods are natural. But the destruction we endure is man-made — designed in committee rooms and signed off with knowing winks. Until corruption is treated as the true disaster it is, no amount of flood control will save us.
Lacson is right: this is a massacre of public funds. But the deeper tragedy is that it is also a massacre of public trust. And once trust is gone, both markets and citizens will seek higher ground.
The water recedes after every storm. But the flood of corruption, that never drains.
