Flood Projects and Filipino Protests: The Call to Improve Anti-Corruption Law and Infrastructure in the Philippines

By. Ruchel Limbos

DOI. 10.57912/31828555

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Flood Project Funds and Protests

In September of 2025, protests erupted through the streets of Manila, the political heart of the Philippines, in response to recent allegations of misusing funds intended for infrastructure projects. An estimated $9.5 billion ($552 billion Philippine pesos) was found to have been taken from 9,855 flood control projects. The investigation was led by President Marcos Jr., who discovered inconsistent flood management audits after inspecting flood projects, then created the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to further investigate cases of corruption. The recent protests of government corruption stem from accumulated anguish over frequent floods and earthquakes, and the lack of ability to recover from them. Neighborhoods in the tropical country have regularly been flooded during the habagat (wet monsoon) season. Scenes of property destruction and Filipinos wading or floating through the water have been normalized in Filipino news networks. 

The significant disparity in living conditions between the elite and the general population indicates structural inequities that are closely tied with the quality of infrastructure that would protect neighborhoods from extreme flooding. Severe economic inequality and misallocation of funds reflect corruption of the Philippine political elite, and betrayal by allowing the wealthy to thrive while millions suffer from structural inequality and poverty. In the wake of anti-corruption rallies and ceaseless natural disasters, valuable reforms in Filipino law should focus on political transparency, proper allocation of funds for infrastructure projects, and increased regulation of public funds use.

Neighborhood Floods and the Need for Infrastructure

The debilitating destruction of property and the economic consequences of failed flood projects represent more than a case of corruption. It represents lives upended by natural disasters and the inability to immediately recover from these seasonal storms because of a lack of support from the government, and structural inequality. Government corruption over flood projects isn’t new; a total of ₱1.9 trillion ($33.27 billion) of flood project funds over the last 15 years have been involved in government corruption. The large flood project budget was intended to be spent on building infrastructure to protect against damages from high flood levels through drainage and other flooding regulation techniques.

Flood projects in the most significantly affected villages include structures and facilities that manage water volume. Soil erosion causes landslides that are dangerous and lead to mass destruction of property. Unfinished projects that were deceptively filed as “complete” based on a public database under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) leave communities vulnerable and at risk once the projects are destroyed by floods.

Legal Regulation of Wealth in the Philippines

Though there are no binding mechanisms to hold states accountable for addressing the impact of climate disasters, advocating for specific infrastructure reform in response to government corruption in the Philippines broadens the lens on the issue from being an economic challenge to one that involves structural inequality and human rights. The Philippines has laws that address bribery-based corruption related to wealth, but lacks proper regulation of the use of public funds and bribery in the public sector.

The Revised Penal Code and Republic Acts 3019 and 6713 define actions involving what constitutes unlawful means of acquiring wealth for public officials and public officers. The language used in Republic Act 6713 emphasizes the need for public officials’ conduct to reflect “commitment to public interest” and “justness and sincerity,” including through access to official documents for investigations. However, the law does not specifically regulate the reallocation of public funds designated for infrastructure for private use; it only briefly mentions that public officials are prohibited from having financial or material interests in transactions. This loophole produces a lack in tracking the usage of government funds, resulting in consequences such as prolonged structural issues and increased economic inequality. The allocation of public funds for flood projects is not considered to be a transaction, but there should be more laws in place to regulate the completion of projects intended to increase infrastructure in affected areas.

Normalization of Corruption

There is a strong grassroots response calling on institutions to enforce regulations on public officials’ conduct, in the wake of the impact that climate disasters have on the economic stability and wellbeing of Filipino citizens. Philippine law requires modest living and discourages displays of wealth through Republic Act 6713 and Article 25 of the Philippines’ Civil Code. Lifestyle checks aren’t considered to be political evidence for government officials’ crimes, but Filipinos have gained agency to make calls for action against corruption by exposing wealthy individuals’ privilege and conspicuous consumptions in social media. However, exposure without change through institutional action will just contribute to a cycle of cynicism and instability while reinforcing government corruption. The civic mobilization in the Philippines reflects a larger problem of human rights violations through the misuse of government funds and power. The government has engaged in “red-tagging,” which labels activists as terrorists to “detain suspects without a warrant” under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). Red-tagging leads to self-censorship and hinders efforts at civic mobilization, and further enables institutions to limit resistance from human rights activists and avoid accountability. This reduces the potential progress to achieve higher levels of democratic accountability and political reform.

Solutions and Hopes for the Future

Climate change is considered to be a human rights issue because its consequences directly affect the long-term well-being and living conditions of affected communities. It disproportionately impacts vulnerable communities, and is recognized by the UN as a threat to rights like “access to clean water and sanitation, food and housing, self-determination, cultural identity, and sustainable development.”  Addressing government corruption is a direct means for ensuring justice and protecting the human rights of a country’s citizens. Communities constantly have to spend their time and limited resources to recover from naturally-caused destruction, instead of growing and developing economically. 

The current political mobilization and criticism of the use of law are symptoms of years of economic damages, and the greater issue of fostering the potential for development in the country. Similar protests have recently taken place in South and Southeast Asia, as Nepal, Indonesia, and Malaysia have also experienced similar levels of economic inequality, where wealth has been used as a status symbol of success and the legitimacy of power. Calls against corruption and the need for stronger climate policy are even more important as countries become more vulnerable to increasingly frequent climate disasters.

The Philippines needs strict, specific infrastructure law to keep an accurate account of the construction of flood protections in vulnerable areas. Laws that specifically limit private use of public funds and increase accountability to address inequality should also be created and enforced as legal reinforcement against the loopholes that facilitated repeated acts of corruption by public officials. This can involve more transparency in asset disclosure, access to accurate data, and open political discourse. 

The lack of action to improve infrastructure and climate disaster relief deters the Philippines’ economic development and strains the trust between Filipinos and the government. Reform against unlawful spending of funds intended to help vulnerable communities would begin to uplift those still recovering from the damage previous floods have inflicted, and protect Filipinos’ livelihoods in the long-run.