Philippine Business Civic Groups Demand Probe into $9.6B Flood Control Corruption

An alliance of 30 prominent Philippine business and civic organizations is demanding an independent investigation into widespread corruption linked to government infrastructure projects, particularly flood control efforts. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. revealed an internal audit indicating that out of 545 billion pesos ($9.63 billion) spent since 2022, thousands of projects were substandard, poorly documented, or nonexistent, with a handful of contractors controlling a disproportionate share of the budget. These findings have triggered legislative inquiries, and Marcos has pledged to form an independent commission to investigate these irregularities. The alliance condemned the corruption as a betrayal of public trust and a 'treasonous' offense against Filipinos, expressing concern that corrupt officials might continue exploiting the system. Following the scandal, the public works secretary resigned, and his successor, Vince Dizon, suspended all bidding on locally funded flood control projects, demanded courtesy resignations from public works officials, and vowed to blacklist fraudulent contractors. While protests are occurring in neighboring Indonesia, the Philippine response has mainly been online activism with some groups preparing street demonstrations.