09/09/2025
๐ข๐ฃ-๐๐ | ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฎ
At face value, ๐๐๐๐จ๐จ is a game of skill. But when we probe beneath the technicalities, the same board reveals a darker gameโone where self-serving kings treat their pawns as a mere currency to be spent for achieving an end.
๐พ๐ค๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ has been a major factor in hindering social and economic development by promoting political patronage (โpadrino systemโ) and perpetuating political dynastiesโlimiting space for genuine public service and political reform. This has become a sustained cycle due to a combination of social norms, political interference, and economic incentives embedded deeply into social structures. With limited public participation, restricted access to public informationโwhich in return, yields limited knowledge on relevant information to make informed decisionsโand low public scrutiny, society has seemingly accepted inadequate regulations, weak oversight from investigative bodies and oversight agencies, and lack of transparency as a โnew normalโ, making corruption resilient to reformation efforts, but prone to a cycle of cronyism, bribery, and nepotism (Brinkerhoff et al., 2023).
The recent controversies surrounding flood-control projects and the contractor couple Discaya show how the Philippines has become an arena of such a game for so long.
On the floodplain, it is never the king wading through floodwater. In every stalled, failed, or "ghosted" flood control project, the pawnsโordinary Filipino citizensโare the first ones swept away from the board. Communities in Central Luzon (Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac and Bulacan), the Ilocos cluster (Pangasinan and Ilocos Norte), Metro Manila, Mindoro, and Mindanao cluster (Maguindanao and North Cotabato) face waist- to chest-deep waters each typhoon season because projects worth approximately โฑ1 trillion were either delayed or never built (Ferreras, 2025). Minimal to zero sanctions fall on the responsible officials, and the real power players remain untouched, leaving the pawns to carry the brunt of the cost.
๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ป๐, high-ranking officials protect themselves by hiding behind contractors and layers of bureaucracy. The Philippine Senate Blue Ribbon Committee initiated an inquiry into alleged anomalies, corruption, and irregularities in multibillion-peso flood control projects. Several contractors were invited to testify but many failed to show up (Philippine News Agency, 2025). This includes notable contractors such as St. Timothy Construction Corp., which has been specifically flagged by President Marcos for project failures (Cabato, 2025). Corruption in infrastructure thrives because kings stay hidden, well protected behind their castle walls built atop the lives of drowning pawns.
The longstanding acceptance and normalization of corruption lead to a lack of accountability and difficulty in reforming the system. According to a detailed expose from Senator Panfilo Lacson the system reflects a โpie-sharingโ scheme where public officials, politicians, contractors and other stakeholders receive a significant portion of the project funds, leaving only a fraction for actual project work (Abarca, 2025; Santos, 2025).
๐๐ป ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ, ๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ-๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ. In acquisition, small contractors can suddenly transform into empires through privileged access to public funds. Much like the alleged plundering of the couple contractor Discaya, who in recently resurfaced feature interviews raised alarms and skepticism regarding their wealth. Their proclaimed โrags-to-richesโ success story, and their flaunting of over 40 plus luxury cars contributed to public and official suspicion about the legitimacy of their sudden accumulation of wealth after becoming DPWH contractors. Thisโ coupled with their no-shows and failure to cooperate with Senate probesโ have heightened suspicions of under-the-table dealings and their roles and connections in flood control anomalies. Sarah Discaya, a former Pasig City mayoral candidate, has been presumed to name her contacts within the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) (Abanto et al., 2025) who allegedly facilitated their construction firmโsโSt. Timothy Construction Corp.โlucrative contract awards.
๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑโ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ; in corruption, domination comes by plundering budgets and cutting corners. President Marcos disclosed that out of the total flood control projects budget from July 2022 to May 2025, about โฑ100 billion, or roughly 18-20%, of the contracts were procured by only 15 contractors out of over 2,400 accredited contractors nationwide (Domingo, 2025). The Senate Blue Ribbon Committeeโs investigation highlighted that these 25 firms bagged bulk flood control contracts, leading to allegations of monopolistic practices and corruption within government flood control projects (Bacelonia, 2025). By seizing control of the โcenterโ, these contractors direct the flow of billions of Pesos, contributing to substandard and incomplete flood control works.
๐ ๐ด๐ฎ๐บ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ. In our version of the game, major construction firms lend permits to โshadow playersโ, allowing them to participate indirectly in projects, often masking actual oversightโleading to delays, poor workmanship, and irregularities. The Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism (2018) found that contractors with suspensions or blacklistings records reappear under different or related corporate names, possibly using borrowed permits or โdummyโ corporations to continue securing lucrative contracts without proper vetting. On paper, things might look clean; in reality, an invisible hand is moving pieces around. This systemic, corrupt methodology sacrifices the safety of entire communities.
๐๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐๐, ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฑ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ป๐โ๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ. Systemic corruption uses the same tactic. Each day of delay and each project ghosted is another day of piling up losses for ordinary Filipino citizens living without the protection and aid they were promised. The clock ticks away against the people.
Well, of course, ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ rattles the kingโbut does not end the game definitely. Investigations, subpoenas, and stern callouts from fellow political figures are loud checks, yet few have become true checkmates. For instance, Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto has shown what a skillful and principled game of chess can look like. He ended a 27-year political dynasty in Pasig and in his first term as city mayor, his administration showed data-driven action for city services and decisions over political patronage (Rocamora, 2021). Mayor Sotto is consistently pushing for increased transparency and public access to government projects information. Through these reforms, Sotto effectively โcheckmatedโ a deeply entrenched game of corruption, bringing about a new era of transparency and accountability to Philippine politics and governance.
On similar grounds, young Batangas Congressman Leandro Leviste also โcheckmatedโ a bribery attempt by a DPWH engineer. Allegedly, the district engineer tried to bribe Congressman Leviste with โฑ3.1 million in cash, with promises of kickbacks amounting to over โฑ360 million tied to flood control projects (Dizon, 2025). Leviste vowed to file formal complaints, emphasizing the need to eliminate corruption and demanding better governance. This is a rare sight in a country where corruption, manipulation, and deceit has seemingly reached a level of โnormalcyโ to the point of desensitization.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค: kings protected, grandmasters dominate, pawns sacrificed, and the clock running down. The corruption seeping through facets of society is not random; it is a cold, calculated strategy aimed at concentrating power to the already powerful. Yet, chess also reminds us that even the most untouchable kings can be checkmated. There is no clear end yet in sight for this game. The challenge remainsโto ensure that the checks become a triumphant ending and investigations yield not just headlines and public flak, but convictions, recoveries, and reforms.
There is so much to unpack, many questions to be asked, and various factors to consider before a definite hypothesis can be made as to why corruption has been deeply entrenched into the very fabric of our culture and society. Demands for accountability should be done with reason and criticality rather than just with ferocious anger or categorical judgements like labeling Filipinos โblindโ or โdeafโ to the ailments of society. Corruption is systemic and pervasive, even in small ways, in our daily lives; it does not function in a silo. Because there are social, historical, and cultural factorsโsome of which can be linked to our upbringing and the environment we grew up inโso ask questions before passing judgements. Only by learning to channel this hate in the right ways will we be able to assume triumph in this game. Only then will we all benefit once the discussion is grounded in facts, not purely decided by public opinion, never reckless, and never defamatory.
๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ธ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ.
๐๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข ๐๐ณ๐ถ๐ป
๐๐ถ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐จ
