It has been several months since the flood control corruption scandal rocked the Philippines. As a result, the scandal exposed weak infrastructure safeguards, according to a news report by the Manila Bulletin.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Manila Bulletin report. Some parts in boldface…
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has flagged corruption as a major risk to Philippine infrastructure delivery, warning that the multibillion-peso flood-control corruption scandal show that current accountability safeguards remain insufficient to prevent the misuse of public funds.
In its report titled “Accelerating Sustainable Infrastructure Investments: Assessing Policies for Planning, Delivery and Financing in Central and Southeast Asia” published on Friday, June 12, the Paris-based OECD said procurement weaknesses continue to undermine infrastructure development in the Philippines despite existing legal frameworks and reform initiatives.
“Corruption remains a major risk in infrastructure delivery” in the country, OECD said, citing persistent procurement vulnerabilities despite measures such as the Integrity Initiative and online blacklisting.
OECD said anti-corruption clauses should be embedded in public procurement and public-private partnership (PPP) contracts, while transparency mechanisms should be expanded to strengthen oversight over infrastructure projects.
It said recent high-profile scandals involving infrastructure rollout, particularly flood-control projects, showed that existing accountability mechanisms were not enough to prevent the improper use of public funds.
OECD devoted a section of its Philippines chapter to flood-control governance failures, citing reports in a University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP CIDS) policy brief on irregularities affecting projects worth more than ₱545 billion, or about $9.5 billion, since 2022.
According to OECD, UP CIDS reported that a significant share of contracts had been awarded to a small number of firms, while some projects were found to be non-existent or poorly executed.
The report also cited estimates that corruption in flood-control spending may have cost the government ₱42 billion to ₱118 billion, or $700 million to $2 billion, a year.
OECD said the case showed how corruption and mismanagement could weaken climate resilience while wasting scarce public funds in a country highly exposed to climate-related flooding.
To address these risks, OECD said the Philippines should strengthen procurement transparency, independent audits, competitive bidding, and project-level monitoring.
It also recommended publishing contract data and linking budget releases to verified project completion to help protect public resources as well as ensure that infrastructure investments deliver actual resilience and development outcomes.
OECD said public procurement, PPPs, and state-owned enterprises (SOEs), or locally known as government-owned and/or controlled -corporations (GOCCs), should “lead by example” in promoting responsible business conduct (RBC) in infrastructure.
While the Government Procurement Reform Act (GPRA) already includes RBC-related provisions, OECD said bidding documents still lack references to climate resilience and broader RBC risks.
The report also noted that the PPP Code mandates environmental and social safeguards, but gaps remain in standardized procedures as well as the capacity of local government units (LGUs) to implement them.
Let me end this post by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think it will still be a few years before guilty ones behind the flood control corruption scandal will be brought to justice? Do you think infrastructure development will continue to be hampered by corruption over the next ten years?
You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.
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