30/11/2025
๐๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐๐ผ๐ | ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐พ๐ค๐ง๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐ง๐๐จ๐จ
โ๏ธ Colleen Luzano
The flood control scandal has shaken the whole nation, leading crowds into the streets with ever-louder demands for accountability. Today, thousands of Filipinos gather for the Trillion Peso March, which symbolizes not merely a protest but a collective cry from a nation long betrayed. Yet one question remains: Is the whole truth finally coming to light, or are the cracks in a system built on years of corruption only beginning to show?
Accountability and transparency is still painfully elusive despite the growing indignation. A few low-level officials have been replaced, suspended, or paraded in front of the cameras as simple sacrifices to allay popular outrage. However, the brains behind this enormous betrayalโthose in positions of authority who authorized, enabled, and benefited from these initiativesโcontinue to enjoy comfortable lives. Every promise of justice may seem less like reform and more like an established scriptโone in which the powerful get away with it while the weak are punishedโuntil the probe reaches the very top.
Flood control projects are engineering initiatives that provide flood protection and reduce flood damage by controlling the flow of water through a strategic system. These projects offer a long-term solution to the persistent problem of floods in the Philippines (Department of Public Works and Highways, 2003).
In his 2025 State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ferdinand โBong Bongโ Marcos Jr. stated that he had been inspecting and observing the effects of the past monsoons and typhoons. He asserted that many flood control projects had failed, collapsed, or appeared to exist only on paper. A pressing question now surfaces: how did this happen, and what the real story is behind these projects that were allocated a substantial budget yet show no tangible results.
According to the Presidential Communications Office (2024), the approved 2025 National Budget amounted to โฑ6.32 trillion, of which โฑ1.01 trillion was allocated to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Of this amount, 32.1%โor โฑ254.3 billion of the overall budget of the DPWH was for the Flood Management Program (Ateneo School of Government, 2025). Given the scale of the allocation, it is difficult to argue that funding was insufficient; the budget granted was more than capable of supporting standard flood control projects.
There are over 9,855 flood control projects across the Philippines, costing a total of โฑ547.60 billion from 2022 to 2025 (BetterGov.ph, 2025). Of these, 64%โor 6,021 projects, amounting to more than 350 billion pesos, do not elaborate on the exact type of flood control structure that was planned. President Marcos reported last August 11, 2025, that these 64% have the same contract cost, which could mean that all the projects have the same design, materials, and length despite the difference in location or terrainโraising suspicion of โghost projectsโ or poorly executed flood control projects. If problems like these are revealed, it becomes clear that something far deeper is at play.
Whatever the reason behind this, it is unacceptable. The government has the duty to ensure that every public fund and every peso contributed by citizens through their taxes is spent on real, functioning projectsโnot on ghost or substandard projects that collapse after a heavy rain. This proves that the floods that are happening in the Philippines are no longer just natural disastersโthey are also signs of the governmentโs negligence and corruption.
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said in an interview on September 21, 2025, that Bulacan has become the epicenter of anomalous flood control projects. This is despite the fact that Bulacan is part of Region 3, which has the highest number of flood control projects with over, totaling 1,617 (BetterGov.ph, 2025).
As the President and the government oversee such anomalies involving 64% of the substandard flood control projects, the President requested a list of the contractors responsible for these anomalies. It was later revealed that 20% of the โฑ547.60 billion went exclusively to just 15 contractors, even though there are over 2,409 contractors for both local and national flood control projects. This practice limits opportunities for other qualified contractors and can be seen as a monopoly benefiting only a fewโan alarming red flag that points to serious negligence or even outright corruption.
With these red flags surrounding DPWHโs flood control projects, the Senate began holding hearings for these โghost-projectsโ and substandard flood control projects. Company construction owners, the 15 named contractors by the President, local engineers, former DPWH secretaries, and others connected to the issue, were called to testify before the hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
An average of 20 tropical cyclones enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) each year, with 8 or 9 of them making landfall (PAGASA, 2025). Every time heavy rain hits the country, Filipinos lose lives, homes, and livelihoodsโnot because the nation lacks funds, but because the budget was not spent properly. Filipinos are resilient, but resilience should not be an excuse for suffering. No one deserves to live in fear whenever a typhoon approaches, to worry about survival, to lose a home, or to watch everything they have built wash away.
The people deserve to be protected, not praised for stories of survival. The government is failing its most basic and important duty: to serve and protect the people. This is no longer a mere technical issue because these problems could be fixed with proper allocation of the budgetโthis is a humanitarian crisis created and intensified by a system that has long been broken.
As a country and as citizens, it is crucial that the people demand accountability and transparency from the government. After all, public officials work for the people and are paid by the peopleโit is their responsibility to act transparently and answer for their actions. The DPWH, together with the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, must ensure that those responsible for the ghost and substandard flood control projects are held accountable under the law.
Amid these growing national issues, the Filipino people are once again making their voices heard. Citizens from all sectorsโstudents, teachers, laborers, professionals, and the Church have united to organize the โTrillion Peso Marchโ today, November 30, 2025. This nationwide protest aims to demand full accountability and transparency from those allegedly responsible for the flood control and misuse-of-funds scandal.
The people of the Philippines deserve better, and the government must disclose all its actions. The bidding process must be reformed to ensure fairness and transparency. All agencies must make all information publicly availableโincluding project locations and budget allocations. This is crucial for citizens to comprehend how their money and taxes are being spent.
In the face of all this, Edwardian students cannot afford to be mere spectators. Formed in a community that prizes conscience, honesty, and service, we are called not only to believe in a better Philippines, but to act as catalysts of social transformation in our own circlesโby refusing cheating, rejecting shortcuts, and treating every responsibility as a trust, not a privilege. The Trillion Peso March may fill the streets for a day, but it is in the quiet choices we make in classrooms, offices, and communities where real change takes root. When we stand firm in our values and commit ourselves to this mission, we do more than denounce corruptionโwe become living proof that a different kind of future is still possible.
Floods may be inevitable; however, corruption and negligence are notโif the people refuse to tolerate them. If the government acts nowโwith accountability, transparency, and reformโthe Philippines can soar and build systems that truly protect its citizens. ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ.
