26/09/2025
State Auditors, Too: The Rotten Core of Institutional Failure
When billions vanish into shoddy or ghost flood-control projects, the question is not only about corrupt contractors and politicians. The deeper rot lies in the very institutions designed to guard the public purse—institutions that have, over time, become toothless.
How deep is the rot in the COA? Its personnel are tasked to audit all government agencies. Their failure to carry out their mandate must be addressed ASAP.
This is not just about one scandal, one family, or one contractor. No matter who eventually gets convicted—if anyone at all—the cycle will simply repeat with new personalities stepping into the same well-worn path of corruption. Why? Because the system itself is weak, compromised, and fearful of the very officials it should hold accountable.
Law Enforcement’s Reluctance
It is telling that in the Philippines, entrapment operations by the NBI, CIDG, or PNP almost never target sitting mayors, congressmen, governors, or senators for bribery. Even their bagmen, who openly operate in the corridors of power, are rarely caught. The culture of impunity flourishes because the powerful are treated as untouchable.
Justice Delayed, Justice Denied
And if by some miracle an official is charged, the justice system itself becomes the accomplice. Cases drag on for years, watered down by endless appeals, negotiations, and “accommodations” that often favor the accused. A guilty verdict is not a ticket to jail—it is a ticket to a slow, convoluted process that almost always ends with suspension at most, but hardly ever prison time.
The Toothless Watchdogs
Even the Commission on Audit, with personnel embedded in every LGU and government agency, has been reduced to silence. Auditors, fearful of politicians, often look the other way in the face of blatant violations. The Lipana scandal, with its clear conflict of interest, only underscores what many already know: watchdogs that bark softly and bite never.
Institutions That Fear Politicians
The tragic irony is that our institutions do not inspire fear in politicians. Instead, our law enforcement agencies, justice system, and auditing bodies are the ones that fear politicians. This inversion of accountability is the heart of the Philippine tragedy.
Unless this cycle is broken—unless institutions are made independent, fearless, and fully protected—the flood-control mess will not be the last. It will be followed by the next overpriced road, the next ghost bridge, the next phantom housing project. The names will change, the schemes will be recycled, but the outcome will remain the same: a people robbed blind, and a country sinking deeper into impunity.
