The flood control plunder signals the imperative of political reform
It’s been three months since President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. launched the "Sumbong sa Pangulo" website, which showed a list of the Top 15 contractors that cornered most of the flood control projects from 2022 to 2025.
Both the heads of the Senate and the House of Representatives were implicated in the scandal, and not too long after, Chiz Escudero was ousted as Senate President, while Martin Romualdez, the President's cousin, stepped down as House Speaker. Investigations have been conducted by numerous offices in the government, including the newly formed Independent Commission for Infrastructure, which has recommended the filing of cases against several officials and contractors to the Ombudsman.
But to date, no funds have been recovered, no one is in jail, and no major changes have been made in how infrastructure is being managed in the country. Some of the accused are even out of the country, and the 2026 budget remains vulnerable to plunder with the huge unprogrammed allocation.
On Nov. 13, the President assured the public that there would be "no Merry Christmas" for flood control suspects as he vowed jail time for them by December. Will this just be another empty announcement that doesn't translate to meaningful changes?
Systemic problem perpetuating itself
Ultimately, corruption happens because our accountability checks are weak or have been weakened. One reason for this is the concentration of power in the hands of a few. As it's turning out, even our effort to address this plunder is compromised because of the same problem of concentration of power in the hands of a few. It's a systemic problem perpetuating itself.
The huge flood control plunder underscores the imperative of political reform. It should bring back the agenda of democratizing power front and center of the national discourse.
Given the extent of corruption in government, especially in infrastructure, civil society and citizens must be involved for transparency and accountability to make a dent. Conducting monitoring that yields systemic solutions would be one, but protest actions must continue to put pressure on the political establishment.
While the political elites, especially in Congress, are on the defensive, and while the slow wheels of justice and state accountability turn, progressives can take advantage of this moment by pushing for legislation that reforms the structure of power.
Below are three key political reform agendas that can help prevent another flood control plunder.
Passage of the anti-political dynasty law
Political dynasties are anathema to democracy, and they undermine state accountability mechanisms. A number of politicians who have been tagged in infrastructure corruption are from political dynasties.
Our Constitution clearly mandates the passage of an anti-dynasty law to realize a system that is both a representative and direct democracy. Our failure to legislate against the establishment and perpetuation of political dynasties has made power in our country overly concentrated that it undermines state accountability mechanisms.
Shift to a parliamentary form of government or limited powers of the presidency
The flood control plunder shows that the majority of the legislators want to be involved in the implementation of projects. It's not allowed in the presidential system, where checks and balances are enabled through the separation of powers between the executive and the legislative.
If this country’s legislators want to be involved in performing executive functions, it would be better for the country to shift to a parliamentary form of government where there is a fusion of powers of the executive and the legislature.
If we are sticking to the presidential form, the powers of the President need to be clipped. It’s been a long-standing reform agenda to remove the power of the President to appoint members of constitutional bodies like the Commission on Audit. With the alleged involvement of a COA Commissioner in the flood control plunder, the vulnerability of COA to political capture has once again become clear. There's a variety of ways by which members of constitutional bodies are selected that ensure their independence.
Passage of political party development and campaign finance legislations
Parties could be an additional mechanism for accountability to check the actions and performance of politicians. Patronage-based politics—which perpetuates corruption—persists because there are no programmatic options that political parties are meant to provide.
It is also clear that there are gaps in our campaign finance regulations that allow corruption money to fuel politicians' campaigns. We need to support the development of political parties and ensure that campaign finance rules regulate the role of money in elections and governance.
The flood control plunder will likely come down as the worst case of corruption in our country. Yet, we are presented with an opportunity today to make a real difference in public management and politics. We need to seize this moment by enabling citizens to be part of the solution and passing needed political reform measures.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of PhilSTAR L!fe, its parent company and affiliates, or its staff.
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