THE ANATOMY OF CORRUPTION: FLOOD CONTROL AND BEYOND
Corruption in public infrastructure is not confined to the flood control projects now under scrutiny. A more pervasive practice has quietly flourished in government centers across the country—where local government units (LGUs) are plunged into multi-million, even billion-peso loans, all greased by contractors who manipulate the system from start to finish.
What should be deliberated carefully by city, municipal, or provincial councils is instead railroaded through lightning-fast approvals. The reason? Contractors, in collusion with politicians, pre-negotiate and dictate the very terms of the projects they later win. Under the guise of “design and build schemes,” these pre-arranged deals are nothing more than a sophisticated workaround to evade competitive bidding.
Why is everyone suddenly “on board”? The answer lies in the unholy currency of Philippine politics: grease money. The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)—a sanitized euphemism for bribery—flows straight from contractors to the pockets of politicians. These kickbacks do more than fatten wallets; they bankroll vote-buying operations that decide elections before a single ballot is cast. Politicians, always one election ahead, advance SOP on projects yet to break ground.
Even the safeguards of law prove weak in the face of such a system. Anti-Money Laundering laws are easily circumvented because the bribes are transacted mostly in cash—hand-carried in bags, discreetly delivered by political bagmen, immune to digital tracing.
The consequences ripple far beyond padded contracts and ballooning debts. Rigged bidding corrodes trust in governance. Public funds meant for schools, hospitals, or disaster preparedness are instead siphoned to service overpriced loans. Communities end up shackled not only by floods but by decades of financial obligations engineered for the enrichment of a few.
And yet, where are the institutions mandated to protect the people? The Commission on Audit, the Ombudsman, even the NBI—too often they appear deaf, blind, or simply unwilling to act with urgency. Their silence has become complicity.
This is not just about corruption in flood control. It is about a systemic rot where public service is held hostage by political ambition and private greed. If left unchecked, it will not only wash away the nation’s coffers but also drown what little faith remains in our democracy.
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The anatomy of corruption: from flood control projects to government centers, a system of loans, pre-negotiated deals, and grease money continues to rob the people. It’s not just infrastructure that’s being built—it’s a machinery of corruption that fuels elections and erodes democracy.
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