Liquid pork

Flooding has been a persistent scourge in the country, considering its location on the global map, which makes it a gateway for severe weather systems to Asia.

However, a bigger calamity is the money spent yearly to absorb the weather’s effects.

In the 2025 budget, P257 billion in flood control projects was earmarked for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., however, vetoed P16.7 billion that was identified as a potential source of corruption and inefficiency.

Including other related infrastructure such as multi-purpose water projects, foreign-assisted undertakings, and flood-related initiatives under different agencies, the total came to P779.38 billion for controlling the yearly deluge.

In sum, the nation is spending approximately 12 percent of the P6.33 trillion national budget this year on flood control. Yet, Filipinos would attest that no improvement in the yearly wet season affliction is felt.

Thus, such projects have become the template for kickbacks, and many have been inserted in the budget, which now constitutes a pork barrel bigger than the P200 million for each senator and P70 million for every House member allocated under the outlawed Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

The PDAF was a yearly lump sum allocated to legislators, which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in 2013.

Previous attempts to revive it were made by opportunistic legislators through so-called farm-to-market roads, which were intended to stimulate agricultural growth.

Flood control projects became a favorite of pork-hungry government officials as these are more obscure and more complicated to audit.

The construction of dikes, drainage systems and river embankments typically involves large-scale, high-budget contracts.

The large budgets allow for significant “commissions” or kickbacks, often facilitated through opaque procurement processes or by manipulating bids for favored contractors.

The recurring problem of flooding, exacerbated by typhoons and monsoons, creates a legitimate public demand for measures to stem its effects.

The urgency is exploited to justify huge budget allocations, which are then mostly pocketed.

Senator Panfilo Lacson said inequitable and distorted allocations for flood control projects are back in the national budget, with a vengeance.

He cited an item in the 2025 General Appropriations Act where “one small town got an appropriation of P10 billion. I will question if they can absorb that amount. Imagine a P10-billion appropriation for a small town with 10,000 residents. It is an inequitable distribution of the budget.”

A tiny barangay in the town received an appropriation of P1.9 billion, he said.

Lacson pointed out that from the PDAF’s uniform allocations, some senators now receive P5 billion to P10 billion each, while some House members each get as much as P15 billion in pork barrel.

In the Bicol region, which is frequently hit by typhoons, for instance, billions of pesos have been spent on flood control.

From 2018 to 2024, approximately P132 billion was allocated, with P86.6 billion in the last two years alone. This did not stop the flooding, however.

In the proposed P6.8-trillion budget for 2026, the practice of inserting such projects will likely recur. Due to the sheer volume of projects and the pressure legislators apply on the executive branch, which prepares the budget, blocking the revival of the pork barrel would be challenging.

Capitalizing on the threats of nature for percentages in contracts is revolting, considering that lives are pawned for these.