Corruption is not just stealing money. It is stealing resilience, stealing futures, and stealing lives. Filipinos are left with flooded homes, broken roads, and empty promises, while the perpetrators walk free. As Greenpeace campaigner Jefferson Chua put it, "They're not just plundering government coffers,they're crippling the ability of millions of Filipinos to survive in the face of an escalating climate crisis".)
The Philippine infrastructure sector is currently drowning in one of the most staggering corruption scandals in decades, revealing a deeply entrenched system of ghost projects, overpricing, underdelivery, and substandard construction.
Roads, bridges, flood control systems, and school repairs -- many of which were allocated substantial budgets -- have either not been built, were poorly executed, or were falsely declared as completed.
The scale of the deception is systemic: projects are repeated across locations, contract amounts are duplicated, and some infrastructure "repairs" consist merely of repainting or shallow manhole work costing millions.
In Quezon City alone, 66 flood control projects from 2022 to 2025 were found to have incorrect or missing coordinates, making them impossible to verify. Of these, 35 projects could not be located at all, and 305 out of 331 were misaligned with the city's drainage master plan
The corruption extends beyond technical fraud -- it is political and financial. Funds earmarked in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) are often inserted through midnight amendments by bicameral lawmakers, only to be diverted or withheld.
President Marcos himself ordered a freeze on ₱60 to ₱80 billion in infrastructure funds in August 2025, citing inconsistencies and congressional insertions that lacked alignment with the Philippine Development Plan
Despite budget allocations, many communities report that the funds were never released, or worse, "nawala ang pondo." This raises the question: where did the money go?
Evidence from Senate hearings and whistleblower testimonies point to a network of contractors, district engineers, and lawmakers who split kickbacks -- locally termed tongpats -- in cash, not through traceable banking channels.
A single contractor group reportedly secured ₱207 billion worth of projects from 2016 to 2025, with multiple firms linked to the same individuals bagging contracts under different names
The Department of Justice has described this as a "conspiracy" involving auditors, agency heads, and legislators.
The funds, instead of reaching communities, were funneled into private accounts, casinos, and luxury assets, leaving behind unfinished dikes, collapsing bridges, and flooded barangays.
The economic toll is immense. The Department of Finance estimates that corruption in flood control alone cost the economy ₱118.5 billion ($2 billion) from 2023 to 2025.
Greenpeace suggests the figure may be closer to $18 billion, especially when factoring in climate-related infrastructure fraud
The public outrage, now manifesting in mass demonstrations and legal action -- including a Writ of Kalikasan filed against multiple government agencies -- signals a turning point.
The people are demanding not just accountability, but reparations and systemic reform.
The massiveness of corruption in Philippine infrastructure is not merely a failure of governance -- it is a betrayal of public trust. The budget was never lost; it was captured, diverted, and weaponized by those entrusted to serve. The challenge now is to unmask the full architecture of plunder and to build a new one.
The layered architecture of corruption in Philippine infrastructure and public spending
Based on the latest investigations, whistleblower disclosures, and budget audits from 2022-2025, we can now estimate the layered architecture of corruption in Philippine infrastructure and public spending.
The breakdown of the types of corruption, their mechanisms, and estimated monetary values, based on official reports and coalition intelligence is shown below:
Layered Corruption in Philippine Public Infrastructure (2022-2025)
Total Estimated Loss (2022-2025): ₱623.5 billion Equivalent to nearly 10% of the 2025 national budget and more than the entire education budget.
The P1 Trillion Controversy
The ₱1 trillion figure is tied to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) allocation in the 2025 national budget, which has become the epicenter of controversy due to massive bicameral insertions and pork barrel schemes.
The 2025 General Appropriations Act originally proposed a ₱6.252 trillion national budget. Of this, ₱1.1 trillion was allocated to DPWH, making it the single largest budget item, even surpassing education -- despite constitutional mandates prioritizing the latter.
Senators Ping Lacson, Rodantw Marcoleta, and Vicente "Tito" Sotto III have publicly criticized the budget, calling it "mangled beyond recognition" and "scandalous" due to: Last-minute bicaminsertions worth ₱142.7 billion. Flood control and infrastructure projects inserted without proper vetting or alignment with national plans. Budget cuts from DepEd and DOH to fund these insertions
Senator Lacson is known for scrutinizing pork barrel practices and flagged the DPWH's bloated budget as unconstitutional and misleading. Marcoleta has been vocal about budget transparency and has questioned the logic behind allocating more to roads than to classrooms or hospitals.
Pqsig Mayor Vico Sotto,has been cited in discussions due to his influence in local governance and his public statements supporting budget accountability.
Where Did the Money Go?
Documents obtained by watchdogs like Vera Files and media outlets like Politiko show:
Bulacan received over ₱12 billion , Sorsogon (home province of Sen. Chiz Escudero)
got ₱9.1 billion , Mindoro, Batangas, Davao, Cavite, Cebu each received ₱4-8 billion in infrastructure projects
These allocations were inserted during the bicameral conference committee, bypassing standard budget deliberations. Critics argue this enabled contractor collusion, ghost projects, and tongpats (kickbacks) at scale.
Greenpeace's Estimate Is 9x Higher Than DOF's
The Department of Finance estimates that corruption in flood control alone cost the economy ₱118.5 billion ($2 billion) from 2023 to 2025. Greenpeace suggests the figure is closer to $18 billion, after factoring climate-related infrastructure fraud:
There is huge discrepancy between the Department of Finance's ₱118.5 billion ($2 billion) estimate and Greenpeace's $18-19 billion projection. The difference isn't just numerical -- it reflects two different lenses on corruption: one focused on direct losses, the other on systemic and hidden costs.
Department of Finance (DOF) Estimate - ₱118.5B ( $2B). This is based on audited flood control projects from 2023-2025 . It Included direct financial losses from ghost projects, overpricing, and underdelivery
It excluded climate adaptation failures , health impacts from flooding ,lost productivity and displacement, environmental degradation ,opportunity costs of misallocated funds.
Greenpeace estimate of $18-19 Billion (₱1.089 Trillion) is based on data from the National Integrated Climate Change Database and Information Exchange System (NICCDIES). It Included: Ghost projects (₱560B in 2025 alone),Substandard infrastructure, Climate-tagged funds diverted to corruption,Reduced resilience to typhoons, floods, and heatwaves ;Health risks from stagnant water, mold, and vector-borne diseases, Economic losses from delayed recovery and damaged livelihoods ,Environmental costs from failed reforestation and mining-linked erosion
Greenpeace warns that only 30-40% of climate budgets reach actuql implementation, with the rest lost to graft, contractor collusion, and political insertions.
Greenpeace Philippines' analysis of climate-tagged corruption from 2023-2025 included the hidden costs -- those indirect but devastating economic impacts not captured in official audits. This new accounting of corruption that included health burdens, livelihood disruption, environmental degradation, and lost resilience The results are shown below :
Total Cost of Climate Corruption (2023-2025)
Total Estimated Cost:
₱1.649 trillion ( 29.1 billion)
The analysis reveals a staggering ₱1.649 trillion ($29.1 billion) in corruption losses from 2023 to 2025 -- far beyond the Department of Finance's conservative ₱118.5 billion estimate.
This figure includes ₱560 billion in direct costs (34%) from ghost projects, overpricing, and contractor collusion, as well as ₱1.089 trillion in hidden costs (64%):health burdens, livelihood disruption, environmental degradation, and lost resilience.
The direct costs stem from climate-tagged infrastructure projects -- especially flood control -- under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Of the ₱800 billion DPWH climate budget in 2025, Greenpeace estimates that ₱560 billion was potentially lost to corruption.
These include 24,764 projects, many of which were either non-existent, misaligned with climate plans, or executed with substandard materials.
But the deeper damage lies in the hidden costs. Corruption has left communities vulnerable to intensifying typhoons, heatwaves, and sea-level rise.
It has robbed farmers of harvests, displaced families, and overwhelmed hospitals with preventable diseases. It has diverted funds from schools, clinics, and agroecology hubs -- crippling the nation's ability to adapt and thrive.
Greenpeace campaigner Jefferson Chua calls this "obscene plunder," warning that the theft of climate funds is not just financial -- it is existential. "They're not just plundering government coffers," he said. "They're crippling the ability of millions of Filipinos to survive in the face of an escalating climate crisis".
This expanded accounting demands a new response: criminal prosecution, asset recovery, and a shift to nature-based, community-led climate solutions. Because every peso stolen is a life endangered -- and every project corrupted is a future erased.
It demands asset recovery, criminal prosecution, and a shift toward nature-based, community-led climate solutions. Because in the face of climate collapse, every peso stolen is a life endangered.
(Teodoro 'Ted' C. Mendoza PhD is a retired professor and UP scientist of the Institute of Crop Sciences at the University of the Philippines Los Baños)