05/09/2025
๐ฃ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ: ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ก๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ๐
The Philippines again finds itself under floodwaters โ not just from rainfall that has deluged the country but also from an outpouring of corruption that has tottered the country for decades. As heavy floods wreck havoc on towns, displacing families and wiping out livelihoods, ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐
๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ โ particularly those who work day and night to keep society going โ are compelled to ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ด๐น๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐; we are not only victims of nature's fury but also of ingrained covetous that inundates our coffers while we carry the burden of rehabilitation.
Recent disclosures about the misuse of billions of flood control funds show blatant disregard for public trust. A mid-year internal audit showed that over โฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป spent since 2022 for ๐ณ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ด๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ โranging from subpar work and padded prices to outright ghost infrastructure. Alarmingly, only ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ cornered 20% of the total budget, prompting ๐ฃ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐๐ผ๐ป'๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป and compelling the new administration to blacklist unsuitable contractors and freeze new bidding.
In extended televised Senate hearings, senators uncovered astonishing proof of extravagant riches among the people connected to these projects. Contractor couple ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ผ "๐๐๐ฟ๐น๐ฒ๐ฒ" ๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ and ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ โ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ต" ๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ revealed that she owned 28 luxury cars, but records showed the family owns 80 cars with their company, 40 of these are luxury cars, including Pagodas of new engineering like Rolls-Royce Cullinan, Mercedes-Maybach, Bentley Bentayga, Cadillacs, and Range Rovers. She openly justified this extravagance by stating, "I have four kids and they use it all the time." Most of these vehicles ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ผ๐บ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐, leading to concerns of evasion of imports.
Rubbing salt in the wound, some political "nepo babies" or offspring of influential contractor-turned-politician clans have posted lavish lifestyles on social media, garnering public outrage in the face of national emergency. They include:
โข ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ โ Daughter of contractor-politician Christopher Co posted glamorous travel and luxury items during floods, later deactivated accounts because of ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ผ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ.
โข ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐บ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐๐ โ Daughter of Sto. Cristo Construction owner, flaunted a Chanel bag online, drawing criticism over her family's flood-related contracts.
โข ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ ๐๐น๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ โ Daughter of Biรฑan Mayor Angelo Alonte; in a viral video said, "Paano ba 'yan, nasa political dynasty 'yung pamilya ko?", later apologized for her remark, she said she should have not said it, or done at all. Still, the issue surfaced on social media as netizens made it viral again.
These displays in public are not only ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ-๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ณ, but they provide an unmistakable action: whilst hardworking Filipinos shell out their hard-earned taxes, fix up their own flood-damaged homes, and see their savings go down the drain during the deluge, these favored families keep on feasting on the country's tragedy. Tragedy is not limited here to financial losses โ it's a ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐๐ฟ๐ฒ. Flood control structures fail not because nature is just too powerful, but because greed replaced steel and cement.
The 30 of the Philippinesโ most influential business and civic organizations condemned the ghost projects as "๐๐ต๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ณ๐๐น, ๐๐ป๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป." Underlying all of this is a culture of impunity that is still firmly embedded in the corridors of power. Attempts at reform are drowned out by the same networks who profit from these injustices. Political inheritors โ either directly through governance or through proximity in family โ benefit from it while the ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ผ๐ป ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ by the costs.
Nevertheless, this crisis presents a clear lesson, that disasters turn lethal when leadership is based on self-interest.๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐๐ป'๐ ๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐น๐น. Responsibility can no longer be at the forefront of national discussion, it must shape our response. In our democratic country where corruption is normalized, let's be the ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ.
The path to justice is ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ if citizens insist on transparency in public projects, hold accountable corrupt politicians and their kin, and vote for leaders who serve and not exploit. Legal reforms must favor merit over birthright, and the change starts with each of us, as every ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป'๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ and the voices of protests are another brick in the wall of opposition to anarchy. This fight is not merely about flood control โ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐, ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ด๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐. ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฒ ๐ณ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ โ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ โ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐: ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐ถ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต.
