Particle.news
Download on the App Store
3 ARTICLES
·
4mo ago

Philippines Probes Flood-Control Graft as Finance Chief Says Up to 70% of Funds Lost

The estimate, presented at a Senate budget hearing, is based on anecdotal accounts rather than completed audits.

Image
Members of the Philippine Coast Guard monitors the office of a firm owned by controversial contractors Sarah and Curlee Discaya after the Bureau of Customs served a search warrant questioning their 28 luxury cars which are believed to have been kept in their building in Pasig city, Philippines, on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Members of the Philippine Coast Guard monitors the office of a firm owned by controversial contractors Sarah and Curlee Discaya after the Bureau of Customs served a search warrant questioning their 28 luxury cars which are believed to have been kept in their building in Pasig city, Philippines, on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Image

Overview

  • Finance Secretary Ralph Recto told senators that 25% to 70% of flood-control budgets may have been lost to corruption, estimating 42.3 billion to 118.5 billion pesos in average annual losses for 2023 to 2025, or up to about US$2 billion.
  • Recto cited ghost and poor-quality projects under the Public Works Department and said waste has likely held back growth that he believes could have reached 6% in 2023 and 2024, compared with actual growth of 5.5% and 5.7%.
  • The House opened a nationally televised inquiry on Tuesday and the Senate’s blue ribbon panel resumed its probe on Monday, questioning contractors, including one who acknowledged owning at least 28 luxury vehicles and another who invoked the right against self-incrimination.
  • President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said he will set up an independent commission to pursue cases after inspections found more than 6,000 of roughly 9,000 implemented projects with inadequate or unusual specifications and at least one project reported complete with no work done.
  • Government figures show an expanded program of nearly 9,900 flood-control projects worth about 545.6 billion pesos since July 2022, as public frustration has grown over awards that never materialized or delivered substandard protection in a typhoon-prone country.