Help PHilippines: billions wasted on flood projects

[Russlenat]

so the news here is crazy again, flood control projects that’s supposed to protect people from disaster turns out to be another source of corruption.

A district engineer admitted in a hearing that some officials and lawmakers are taking their cut, like up to 30% from the budget, just imagine that.

They even showed piles of cash prepared for the so-called “proponents” as proof.



In one deal alone it already reached P355 million, and that’s not even the full picture. billions get allocated every year but the situation never changes, still the same floods, the same broken homes, the same useless projects. now they’re saying there could be dozens of ghost projects too, money gone and nothing ever built.

How long will this cycle continue? funds meant to save lives end up stolen, and people are left with nothing but empty promises.

Help Philippines, don’t let this just pass by like another headline.

[avp2306]

so the news here is crazy again, flood control projects that’s supposed to protect people from disaster turns out to be another source of corruption.

A district engineer admitted in a hearing that some officials and lawmakers are taking their cut, like up to 30% from the budget, just imagine that.

They even showed piles of cash prepared for the so-called “proponents” as proof.



In one deal alone it already reached P355 million, and that’s not even the full picture. billions get allocated every year but the situation never changes, still the same floods, the same broken homes, the same useless projects. now they’re saying there could be dozens of ghost projects too, money gone and nothing ever built.

How long will this cycle continue? funds meant to save lives end up stolen, and people are left with nothing but empty promises.

Help Philippines, don’t let this just pass by like another headline.

It happens if the country is lead by lots of corrupt politicians.

With those situations happening it seems that they already became an organize syndicate which aim to stole money from people. To bad and if this will continue to happen then people can't expect to see some progress in their country.

That cycle will continue if those corrupt will not get punish or if your countrymen will continue to elect those corrupt official. To only stop this situation to keep happening better choose the right leader and don't choose those traditional corrupted minded people in the seat.

[Ziskinberg]

That cycle will continue if those corrupt will not get punish or if your countrymen will continue to elect those corrupt official. To only stop this situation to keep happening better choose the right leader and don't choose those traditional corrupted minded people in the seat.

Honestly this won’t be solved in a peaceful way, people should revolt already. The government itself is corrupt, they got their own people surrounding them so it’s hard for them to fall. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s no presidential election in 2028, they can always find a way to declare martial law.

Because if a new president sits, then obviously those involved will be put in jail. And Duterte is not their ally, which makes it more likely he wins the election, unless it gets cheated.

[Solosanz]

The Philippines is a third world country same to other third world countries where the problem are on the root, but people only fix the top, hence even someone remove the top, the root can grow and it's ended up the same.

That cycle will continue if those corrupt will not get punish or if your countrymen will continue to elect those corrupt official. To only stop this situation to keep happening better choose the right leader and don't choose those traditional corrupted minded people in the seat.

How it can be possible to choose the right leader when applying to be a leader require a lot of money and the winner is the one who give money to the voters? There's no way to change it except a huge nuclear explosion happen on the country that make people have to build from zero or other country takes their lands.

[BattleDog]

30% skim --> 100% floods.

You won't fix this with another ribbon-cutting; you fix it with sunlight.

No cash. All payments traceable, in escrow, released by milestones. Publish the BOQ, contractor, change orders, and GPS-tagged progress photos on a public dashboard (even a simple chain-backed log). Engineer + COA + community rep sign before funds move. Random third-party audits and whistleblower protection.

Blockchain won't build levees, but it can make stealing in the dark a lot harder. Sunlight is cheaper than sandbags.

[Lucius]

~snip~
How long will this cycle continue? funds meant to save lives end up stolen, and people are left with nothing but empty promises.
Help Philippines, don’t let this just pass by like another headline.

It will continue as long as ordinary people elect bad people to govern the country. If they do this in every election, then a large part of the responsibility lies with them. Change can only come if dishonest people are removed and those who will work for the benefit of the people are appointed.

However, it should be noted that such things do not only happen in countries like the Philippines, because it also happens in some EU countries with one important difference, which is that politicians steal money in all possible ways, but at the same time they do something useful for the people, who then turn a blind eye to their misdeeds.

In the end, I don't see how someone who is not from the Philippines can help that country get rid of corruption, because after all, these are internal matters of an independent country.

[retreat]

I've been following this news, and it’s no surprise that the Filipino public is outraged over this mega-corruption scandal. So much public money was used to build this flood control project, yet these officials seem to have hit it big and are embezzling the money for their own personal gain. It's simply unfair that, in the midst of such a dire economic situation, these officials are enjoying so much money and are oblivious to the suffering of the people.

How long will this cycle continue? funds meant to save lives end up stolen, and people are left with nothing but empty promises.

The morals of Philippine officials are almost the same as those in my country; deeply corrupt. But this is the result of a system that has been allowed to fester for years without serious reform. Corruption is considered commonplace, while integrity is secondary. And this is what has prevented the country from developing at all, because these officials are so comfortably and don't think about the plight of the common people who struggle daily just to make ends meet.

Going forward, we should be more conscious about choosing people based solely on their track record and performance, not on sweet promises, fleeting image-building, or the money they hand out before elections, so that this circle can at least be reduced.

[Russlenat]

It will continue as long as ordinary people elect bad people to govern the country. If they do this in every election, then a large part of the responsibility lies with them. Change can only come if dishonest people are removed and those who will work for the benefit of the people are appointed.

Unfortunately this is not gonna happen since majority of the population in the Philippines are poor. And most of these poor people dont really think who is good or bad, they will only vote if they can benefit during election - like vote buying for example, which is so rampant here. Even government aid is being used as a form of vote buying.

So as long as poverty is this high, people have no choice but to go with whoever can help them, even if they know that politician is corrupt - or sometimes they’re just not educated about what’s really happening. Right now, it feels hopeless if our country will ever recover and be led by the right ones.

[Curious T]

Honestly this won’t be solved in a peaceful way, people should revolt already. The government itself is corrupt, they got their own people surrounding them so it’s hard for them to fall. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s no presidential election in 2028, they can always find a way to declare martial law.

Very few people who have power will give it away willingly. It is usually taken from them. If the people don't find a way to take the power away from these people, nothing will change.
The situation is the same in my country, if not worse. We come to a point where people play politics with everything, including the lives of people. They embezzle money meant for hospitals, healthcare and even displaced people.

People hate to hear it, but it's human nature to be that way. What stops people from doing that is a system. A system that checks how this money is spent and makes sure the money is being used properly. A system where there are heavy penalties for those caught, and the laws are enforced. Without a system like that, people will do whatever they want as long as they can get away with it. So as long as the people of the country don't wake up and take power back and create a system, things won't change.

[knowngunman]

Issues like this don't surprise me any longer because we are familiar with it here and nothing has happened. In May of this year, there was heavy flooding that destroyed lives, properties and render the community helpless. This was as result of government negligence over the past years despite its been a recurrence event and government has been making a budget and even securing a foreign loan to get it fixed but nothing was done until the eventual disaster happened.

It happened as if nothing happened and everyone sympathise with the community. The victims were moved to a temporal site (Internally displaced person Camp) pending when there community will be rebuilt. Intervention, donations from individuals and organisations came through as can be seen in the image below.


Guess what happened? Everything donated couldn't be accounted for despite the list was public for transparency and the victim could not either benefit from both the cash and materials donated. It's very unfortunate some people lacks human empathy and they don't longer care to convert others predicament for personal gain.

[iv4n]

30% skim --> 100% floods.

You won't fix this with another ribbon-cutting; you fix it with sunlight.

No cash. All payments traceable, in escrow, released by milestones. Publish the BOQ, contractor, change orders, and GPS-tagged progress photos on a public dashboard (even a simple chain-backed log). Engineer + COA + community rep sign before funds move. Random third-party audits and whistleblower protection.

Blockchain won't build levees, but it can make stealing in the dark a lot harder. Sunlight is cheaper than sandbags.

Nice comment... and I think you hit the point. There's a way to put an end to corruption, but people need to wake up.

...
now they’re saying there could be dozens of ghost projects too, money gone and nothing ever built.

Well, here we have a joke... It's a very old joke:

A Serbian guy visits his friend in Greece. The Greek has a house by the sea, a fancy car, a yacht… The Serb asks: “Man, how did you get all this?”
The Greek points and says: “See that bridge? I took a meter from one side and a meter from the other.”

Later, the Greek guy came to Serbia. The Serb now has a bigger house, more cars, and even a helicopter. The Greek asks: “Wow, how did you get all that?”
The Serb smiles and says: “See that bridge?”
The Greek looks around: “What bridge? I don’t see any bridge.”

Hard truth...

[peter0425]

so the news here is crazy again, flood control projects that’s supposed to protect people from disaster turns out to be another source of corruption.

It is very saddening because the reason why all these corruption from the flood projects are being exposed is due to the typhoons that hit the country and the government's inefficiency has put many people in danger. Now this is just the flood control projects. There are also corruption in all other projects like road buildings, healthcare, education and other sectors. Seems like SEA countries are going through the same thing right now which is fighting off corrupt officials.

How long will this cycle continue? funds meant to save lives end up stolen, and people are left with nothing but empty promises.

Hopefully, the real fight against corruption stops now. Because it seems like the country is not even that poor. The leaders are just pocketing the money meant to improve the country.

[alani123]

Corruption is common in several places around the world, but the rate at which it happens in south east Asia is crazy.

People in the Philippines should be aghast when they see news like this. Yet corruption has become so ingrained in everyday life people would rather look at distractions.

There's only one solution to these problems and that is to oust political dynasties. There can be no loyalism in politics. People need to take this uponthemselves and rise up.
All the best to philipino people. There needs to be a real people's struggle to oust the oligarchs keeping this rich country's people poor for so long.

[freedomgo]

There's only one solution to these problems and that is to oust political dynasties. There can be no loyalism in politics. People need to take this uponthemselves and rise up.
All the best to philipino people. There needs to be a real people's struggle to oust the oligarchs keeping this rich country's people poor for so long.

There was a bill that would not allow political dynasty but it never got approved. The problem is the corrupt politicians are the ones in congress and senate, they’re the ones who create and implement the law, so how can the problem be solved?

At this rate corruption is already rampant, it can’t be solved right away unless there’s a true leader who acts like a dictator and forces these officials to follow. But in the Philippines it’s a democratic country, everything has to go through process of the law, and cases like this could take years before any decision is made.

[Ziskinberg]

Honestly this won’t be solved in a peaceful way, people should revolt already. The government itself is corrupt, they got their own people surrounding them so it’s hard for them to fall. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s no presidential election in 2028, they can always find a way to declare martial law.

Very few people who have power will give it away willingly. It is usually taken from them. If the people don't find a way to take the power away from these people, nothing will change.
The situation is the same in my country, if not worse. We come to a point where people play politics with everything, including the lives of people. They embezzle money meant for hospitals, healthcare and even displaced people.

People hate to hear it, but it's human nature to be that way. What stops people from doing that is a system. A system that checks how this money is spent and makes sure the money is being used properly. A system where there are heavy penalties for those caught, and the laws are enforced. Without a system like that, people will do whatever they want as long as they can get away with it. So as long as the people of the country don't wake up and take power back and create a system, things won't change.

I guess that’s all we can really do now, people need to unite and be brave enough to oust these officials or force them to resign, but honestly that’s easier said than done. I haven’t even seen a violent rally yet, most of the rallies I’ve seen are just sponsored by politicians, and the people there are being paid. Everything here runs on money, it’s all about money. At this point, only God can help the country.

[Russlenat]

i think this is a good news...

S.Korea halts P28.7-B PH infrastructure loan due to corruption risks

(September 10, 2025) – South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung has ordered to suspend the implementation of a ₩700-billion (P28.7-billion) project loan to the Philippines.

In a post on Facebook, Lee said he had ordered to halt the proceedings “for the project in question that has been identified as fraudulent.”

Lee emphasized that the decision aimed to protect taxpayers’ money and prevent the risk of corruption.

Lee’s decision to halt an infrastructure loan comes amid the Philippine government’s investigation into anomalous flood control projects.

“The most fortunate thing is that the [project] has not yet been completed, so expenses such as supporting the Foreign Economic Cooperation Fund have not been spent,” Lee wrote in Korean.

And I hope more countries will follow by not giving loans to the Philippines until they fix their bad reputation, because lending more money right now will only make the corrupt officials even stronger. Social media is so powerful these days that the paid media of these corrupt politicians can’t cover up things anymore, no matter how much they try. It may look bad for the nation seeing news like this, but in a way I’m happy, at least no more money is being lent that could only be used for corruption instead of helping the people.

[Localhostspeed]

so the news here is crazy again, flood control projects that’s supposed to protect people from disaster turns out to be another source of corruption.

I thought this only happened in my country, never knew that corruption spread across all countries. There should be a special anti corruption agency in your country that all this things are reported to. It you have the evidence, it's better you channel it to the right authority, they can bury the truth forever. Anyone involved in the corruption will be brought to justice.

[Fortify]

so the news here is crazy again, flood control projects that’s supposed to protect people from disaster turns out to be another source of corruption.

A district engineer admitted in a hearing that some officials and lawmakers are taking their cut, like up to 30% from the budget, just imagine that.

They even showed piles of cash prepared for the so-called “proponents” as proof.

In one deal alone it already reached P355 million, and that’s not even the full picture. billions get allocated every year but the situation never changes, still the same floods, the same broken homes, the same useless projects. now they’re saying there could be dozens of ghost projects too, money gone and nothing ever built.

How long will this cycle continue? funds meant to save lives end up stolen, and people are left with nothing but empty promises.

Help Philippines, don’t let this just pass by like another headline.

You'd think that it would be super simple for a government to create an accounting document that shows how much money came in and where it was spent, then release it publicly. This only works if the people at the top force transparency and when they don't it's usually because they have the biggest cut of corrupt funds. Sadly only the people can rise up and overthrow these abusers, but they are already weakened by flooding. It can take a while for the anger bubbling below the surface to erupt, but as we see in Nepal right now, it can happen hard and fast when it does.

[Die_empty]

It will continue as long as ordinary people elect bad people to govern the country. If they do this in every election, then a large part of the responsibility lies with them. Change can only come if dishonest people are removed and those who will work for the benefit of the people are appointed.

In most cases, elections are rigged to favour these corrupt politicians. In my country, the people massively voted for a man with a track record of honesty but the result was manipulated to favour a well-known corrupt drug baron. 

However, it should be noted that such things do not only happen in countries like the Philippines, because it also happens in some EU countries with one important difference, which is that politicians steal money in all possible ways, but at the same time they do something useful for the people, who then turn a blind eye to their misdeeds.

In the end, I don't see how someone who is not from the Philippines can help that country get rid of corruption, because after all, these are internal matters of an independent country.

Corrupt European politicians have a conscience. They wouldn't steal as much as 30% of the total project sum. Developing nations are ruled by heartless criminals who have no sympathy for the people. The leaders in the Philippines don't care about the devastating consequences of this natural disaster. They don't care if people die or lose properties because of their selfish interest.     

[Russlenat]

so the news here is crazy again, flood control projects that’s supposed to protect people from disaster turns out to be another source of corruption.

I thought this only happened in my country, never knew that corruption spread across all countries. There should be a special anti corruption agency in your country that all this things are reported to. It you have the evidence, it's better you channel it to the right authority, they can bury the truth forever. Anyone involved in the corruption will be brought to justice.

Evidence is everywhere, but the problem is the government itself is corrupt, even those so-called independent bodies are still formed by the government, so can we really trust their credibility? This has been happening long before, it just got uncovered recently because the corruption has become so rampant they can’t hide it anymore. Honestly, if those heavy rains didn’t come, it wouldn’t even be exposed, so in a way we can only thank God it came to light.