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Recent scandals in flood control and farm-to-market road projects, many found to be ghost or overpriced are shaking investor confidence.
Billions wasted, projects unfinished, yet officials still deny accountability.

Foreign investors see this as a red flag. If funds for infrastructure can vanish so easily, how can creditors trust long-term deals?

No surprise the stock market lost over ₱1.7 trillion, and the peso keeps sliding past ₱58 per dollar.
The message is clear: corruption isn’t just a moral issue, it’s killing the economy.

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https://apnews.com/article/philippines-flood-control-corruption-inquiry-6ec985cb21d1c14ba617a57b9f223974
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/philippine-groups-demand-independent-investigation-excessive-corruption-2025-09-04/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/21/protests-philippines-corruption-state-flood

Recent scandals in Nigerias infrastructure sector from inflated road contracts to ghost flood control projects show a worrying pattern of corruption draining public funds Billions of naira are given every year for development yet many projects remain abandoned poorly done or never started. This ongoing lack of accountability is damaging investor confidence When money meant for basic infrastructure disappears into private pockets it sends a clear message to foreign investors that Nigeria is still a high risk place to invest. The results are easy to see foreign investment keeps falling the naira keeps losing value and public trust in government spending is at its lowest point Corruption is not only a moral problem it is an economic disaster that is robbing the country of progress jobs and its good name in global markets.

Markets like Nigeria and the Philippines have always been extremely high risk, so command extra returns for investors who dare to enter the market. This means that I can cost twice, five or even ten times as much to complete a task - because who knows it there is volatility in government, the currency might collapse or something like riots might wipe out all the capital. This is nothing new and it would take decades of less turbulent society and a self sufficient economy before it gets much cheaper. Corruption is just one piece of the puzzle.

When other countries know that the president of a nation is corrupt and dishonest, they won't trust investing in the country under that president in the Philippines, nor will they lend money. They'll just think that the money they loan to the country will be wasted.

Because it will simply be stolen and then publicly presented in the territory as if it's for a good government program for its citizens. What's even sadder is that the corrupt president also controls the Chiefs of the PNP (Philippine National Police) and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), where the AFP fund has a scandal of around 15 Billion for the military. It seems the AFP Chief and the PNP Chief were also paid billions. Instead of fulfilling their sworn promise to protect the Filipino people, they are now protecting the very thief of the nation's treasury.
This situation makes the police and the military extremely shameful and disgraceful.

The worst hasn’t come yet, so if you’re planning to invest or already have, it’s better to pull that out and put it into bitcoin instead. the Philippines is being run by corrupt officials, even the president is corrupt, so you can’t really expect the problems to be solved when they’re the main cause of it.

For now, the only thing we can hope for is that the government won’t be granted more loans, because the money will just end up in corrupt projects that will later be exposed as ghost or substandard.  :(

I don’t know much about Nigeria, but the Philippines wasn’t like this before -  at least not this bad, back when corruption wasn’t being exposed as much.
 
Things only got worse when it all came to light, because now investors are losing confidence. the authorities can’t even punish the real masterminds behind the mess.

if you follow the investigations, it’s pretty obvious there’s some kind of cover-up going on. only the so-called “sacrificial lambs” are getting jailed, while the bigger names like  senators, congressmen, and other high officials  are still free, some not even facing any charges yet.

Some countries do not think about the dishonest of the president before granting there loan because if they no something that will be very beneficial to there country they might only demand they use it on the agreement so that if there come a time when the borrower cannot pay they will removed themselves from becoming the owner of it so actually some countries do not care about how corrupt the other country is because they use loan to do business, you can ask for corrupt countries with loan you will see a lot of them. Is only on the investors basis corrupt country will have disadvantage because if the people of the country is having difficult time to survive how would the investor become successful on his business in that country.

Please be mindful of the fact that the news regarding the stock market wipeout isn't true.^[1]

But the brazen large-scale corruption is. And, yeah, it's killing the economy. The confidence that's so important for a market to thrive, for investors to be attracted, for aids, grants, loans, and the like to be offered or approved, and so on is gone.

Unfortunately, the politicians couldn't care less. It doesn't matter to them. They're easily making billions whether the market or the economy is doing well or broken.

Sometimes, I wish the fake news were true and would grow even worse for people to finally realize they have to be angry and literally drag the politicians to face accountability.

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[1] https://www.philstar.com/business/2025/10/10/2478723/market-wipeout-value-fake-news-go

Wasn’t he the one who announced it first, then later took back his words?

Could it be that there’s some kind of cover-up going on since he’s under the executive department? Or is there any way to verify if there really was a wipeout or not, aside from what the SEC chairperson says?

It is a real certainty that the economy will be destroyed, the people will be miserable, the government will be in shambles, corruption will be the most dangerous disease and a deadly infectious disease within the parliament and government.
Never mind investors, people will no longer trust corrupt people, the destruction of the country and economy is caused by their actions, a real example of what is happening now is Nepal and Indonesia. fortunately the corruptor's house was burned down, the corruptor in question should have been burned alive.

That's how bad the act of corruption is, we can see the Chinese economy with luxurious development, this is because investors trust the government there, if someone is corrupt, the death penalty is the best action for the corrupt, in order to gain investors' trust.

Your doubt is valid.

just look at this article, Ex-BSP official calls out Malacañang: PSE market cap down P5T since 2024, recovery a long shot (https://bilyonaryo.com/2025/10/10/ex-bsp-official-calls-out-malacanang-pse-market-cap-down-p5t-since-2024-recovery-a-long-shot/money/)

Guidote, IMO, is pretty reliable. She’s known in the market and has built a solid reputation through the years .. I don’t see any reason for her to lie or exaggerate things just for attention.

It’s more believable that the government is packed with corrupt officials who are just trying to hide what’s really going on with the economy. and they know the public would be furious if the truth got out, so they keep spinning the story to save their reputation.

There is one thing I know about politics, even if there is a single good guy among them it won't matter much because whatever he does won't make any difference, I just wish that every person that want to serve their country must first be screened before taking any position, voting is a complete nonsense this days.

Politicians should be screened or face some kind of examination before they get appointed, less educated people have taken over the sit of ruling in my country, the are corrupt as hell, ordinary fixing a road they will use bad products and before a year or two runs out the road will be full or potholes, these bastards milk money out of everything.

I hope the Philippines will come out of this mess one day because it was never like this, it means that some bad numbers of people have fund their way into leadership roles, they must stand for themselves and win.

He didn't make the first announcement. He cited an unverified report. He took it back shortly thereafter, even issued a public apology.

I'm sure he was told to go soft in his criticisms against the government considering that he too is a government worker.

The way to objectively verify it is to check the data of PSE. However, I'm not an expert and I can't properly digest the figures indicated in the PSE monthly reports, but it seems the domestic market cap as of the last trading day in 2024 and the current domestic market cap remain within the ₱14 trillion range. There's a difference but it's less than a trillion--from ₱14.57 trillion to ₱14.29 trillion.

If we compare this with the total market cap, the one which includes dual-listed foreign firms, 2024 closed at ₱20.01 trillion while the current figure is at ₱19.120 trillion. There's a considerable difference but still less than ₱1 trillion.

Based on the figures published on PSE reports, it appears there isn't a ₱1.7 trillion wipeout in just a matter of 3 weeks.

Here's the correct report.
 Not P5 trillion, but P273 billion: PSE clarifies market capitalization loss (https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/10/13/not-p5-trillion-but-p273-billion-pse-clarifies-market-capitalization-loss-1326)

Still, that’s a huge loss and it happened in such a short time. Imagine if this mess keeps going, it’s only gonna get worse. Better to step out early than end up regretting it, still hoping the economy would bounce back. I don’t even see this as a “buying opportunity” anymore, ‘cause if the market already dumped this hard, chances are it’s gonna fall even further.

Here's the clarification from PSE itself. Hopefully, it clarifies doubts and confusions. It seems what happened was that the overall market cap by the time the market closed in 2024 was compared with the latest domestic market cap. They're not exactly the same thing.

But proving that the news was misleading doesn't mean the market is doing well. It performs poorly. Whether it's primarily due to the flood control mess or not isn't the issue. The point is that the government should build trust and confidence for investors and the business sector in general to thrive. Seriously fighting corruption, by sending corrupt politicians and officials to jail, for example, is a great boost.

Poor morality and leadership are generally more likely to lead to corruption, and perhaps most countries fight against such policies, but ultimately fail. The question is why is corruption so difficult to eradicate, and why does it happen? If infrastructure funds can simply disappear, who can guarantee that funds from other sectors will not be corrupted? The impact could be far more severe, with the public facing problems from their actions, and some funds earmarked for essential needs such as building infrastructure access will not be fully realized.

They are killing many hopes, not only morally and economically, but also many big dreams that have failed to materialize because they are bad leaders. A country cannot expect to progress if its leaders are corrupt, and there will never be a chance for such a country to provide progress for its people.

This is why corruption is dangerous for a country. If a country is known to be corrupt, it looks unattractive for investors while it is investors that help to grow the economy. Every investor wants profit after business and if this is not guaranteed by the government through its apparatus of leadership guaranteeing security of lifes and properties then investors would hardly put their money for business. But a country running under social justice and institutions that are fortified to ensure accountability, that will discourage high level corruption because of the penalty and punishment if caught. Corruption is what is killing the economy of third world countries because money meant for capital projects end up unaccounted and no institutions to fight such injustice on the unused tax payers money that have gone into private pocket.

Corruption is a disease that spreads like a virus amongst leaders,the government and the economy as large.the government are the people controlling the economy.so any investor just have to be careful in all you do way your risk do some calculations,and get good information on the country you want to invest in so you don't be a victim of a failed business investor.

And this is what’s happening in the Philippines, the trust has already been damaged, and it won’t be restored that easily. People no longer trust the officials; there’s always doubt in their minds. I wouldn’t even be surprised if another people power movement happens someday.

It feels like it’s long overdue, since everything they do seems to follow whatever their bosses say. It’s like an organized syndicate, only this time it’s powerful because the ones running it are the ones in power, and honestly, the president might even be at the top of it.

If you were a foreign investor what are the chances that you would invest in Nigeria, it's probably very low and I can't really blame you if it is because with what's happening in the country and with how it's being run, no one trusts the leaders and they are right now to trust them with corruption levels being over the roof and the citizens even being unable to hold their their so called leaders and representative in government accountable.
The truth is that foreign investors see what's happening in the country and they don't want to be a part of it, they don't want their investments to go down the drains and to ensure that that doesn't happen they avoid country like this, you'd probably do the same in their stead.

Maybe these corrupt politicians were able to conceal their criminal activities from the public. That was why it was not exposed, because with these massive corruption scandals that are being unveiled, I think it has been happening before.

Investors want to be sure that their money is in a safe country. They would be sceptical about moving into a country that will experience economic problems like inflation and currency loss of value. This will affect them negatively and might lead to bankruptcy. With the rate of corruption in the Philippines, investors' confidence in the country will keep depreciating.     

Hey, wait, the Philippines just landed as the number 3 most corrupt country in Southeast Asia. And with how things are being exposed, we are on our way to the number one spot.
The flood control projects scam is just the tip of the iceberg. I just watched the news about many ghost health center projects; these ghost projects could amount to billions of dollars, too.
Before these investigations are over, we will end up with 90% of the government department full of corruption. The world is watching and feels pity for the citizens' suffering. The people of the Philippines are known to be happy people we will end up as the most depressed people after this.

Though there are some that will play and risk but majority will leave and avoid placing their investment in a country where corruptions really exist, we do know that investors are good in reading the potentials they'll rather bring their money in a different location or different ways of investment instead of placing their money in a unhealthy politics and corrupted government.

We may see them leave or possible that they will just divert or save their money till they see changes or potential situation that may strenghten the economy that they wanted to support.

It will take time before the confidence of investors is restored. The ongoing investigation is very slow, but that’s how justice in the Philippines is, and this is just a preliminary investigation, not yet court proceedings.

Once it gets in the court, these corrupt people will utilize their dirty money to hire the best and corrupt lawyers in town to defend them, or delay the proceedings, or even make a bargain for a lesser crime.

The Department of Justice in the Philippines should do everything to make these corrupt officials pay, and it should be a jail sentence, and they should return the money they robbed, it's the money of the people who worked hard to pay their taxes in time.

Corruption is one evil that has far more effect on a nations economy because corruption is beyond stealing money but it actually have a negative effects on the overall performance of a country economy.corruption is one of the reasons why the developing countries are were they are because resources that are met for the development of people are siphoned by one or two individuals with selfish purpose. Corruption is the reason why most developing countries has not been able to have a stable economy because all the factors that leads to economic stability are not there , imagine money ment for fixing electricity is stolen by few people so there is no electricity which is very needed for economic activities to strive which will lead to the overall economic stability of a country's economy.if any nation is to do well then corruption is one thing that they needs to fight and remove first.

The issues about the corruption have already exist since decades ago and it became an unsolved issues because until now and many countries have to hard struggle to clean their country from the corruption and for some develop countries this became an serious issues because if the investors known about the condition of their countries then it will decreases the investor trust

I believe corruption can kill the foundation of the particular countries and for decades ago economic condition in my country almost be destroy because the officials did corruption massivelly but luckily my president can convince investors and my country can avoiding recession but the number of corruption cases is quite high which i have been thinking probably the corruption cannot be solved until whenever

How do you expect them to punish what they're part of?

Why do you think I those projects were unfinished or abandoned? If it was only about the contractors then you would've seen them dragged to court, issues and disgraced publicly, but the government cannot fight what is highly inclusive of them. I've a little experience with the government which made me understand how corrupt these guys are. I am a contractor and when I apply for government contacts and submit my proposal, the budget is increased by 1000% or more and I'm still made to defend it while they wait for the day funds would be released and they collect their shares leaving me with a little less than 100% of my quotation to do the job. One last job I was awarded was even rewarded to another company for favoritism and to pull out more funds.


The worst being that you cannot even say NO since you need the profits for your survival and there are lots of guys waiting to jump into the picture ASAP you exit. Too bad.

I've already seen this movie in my country. High and blatant corruption rates in every levels of the government in partnership with private companies as well, an enraged population demanding instant changes and solutions, and a messianic political leader or party promising to be the only able to fix everything, while raising the flag of honesty.

Then, government changes, a new political is elected and you discover it was never for the ideals promoted, rather it's just another project of power which aims to benefit a minority on the top of the pyramid through the same (or even worse) corrupt methods. However, unlike before, now the population will be passive towards corruption. They will even find a way to defend it indirectly.

Third world countries are third world countries for a reason: its own people, its own citizens. You can't fight alone against this system. Move away from such countries on the first opportunity you have, considering its lifestyle and wicked values cause suffering on you.