On the eve of the International Day of Democracy 2025, a professor from the University of Santo Tomas maintained that the country will not enjoy its absolute freedom if it is still being run by corrupt officials whose greed for money is insatiable.

“In the context of real democracy, we cannot say that our country is indeed free, as we are being controlled by politicians who are continuously exploiting our nation, particularly our coffers, and our citizens,” said UST Department of Political Science chief Dennis Coronacion in an interview on Sunday.

According to Greenpeace Philippines, based on estimates revealed at recent Senate inquiries, as much as P1.029 trillion of the government’s climate-tagged expenditures could have been lost to corruption since 2023, with P560 billion allegedly pocketed by erring Department of Public Works and Highways contractors and lawmakers in 2025 alone.

“As long as these crooks and corrupt officials are there, we will not enjoy real democracy, making progress in our country very elusive,” Coronacion added.

The United Nations has marked 15 September as International Day of Democracy, urging all governments to promote and uphold the principles of democracy.

For his part, Greenpeace campaigner Jefferson Chua said a trillion pesos is a staggering, absurd amount siphoned by avaricious, self-serving officials and contractor corporations from projects meant to help people cope with escalating climate impacts.

“This is unacceptable. They’re not just plundering government coffers; they’re also crippling the ability of millions of Filipinos to survive in the face of an escalating climate crisis. Theft of climate funds at such a scale is atrocious, and offenders are akin to climate criminals,” he said in a recent online press conference.

The Greenpeace official said corruption and greed are undermining the ability of millions of Filipinos to cope with climate change, as every year, millions lose lives, homes, and livelihoods due to more frequent and more intense flooding.

“Floods have also caused massive economic losses for local governments as well as the national government. The flood control projects are meant to protect communities, but the ongoing investigations show that astronomical amounts for these climate adaptation efforts are going to the pockets of greedy government officials and private contractors,” he said.

Diversion

As many Filipinos were deliberately robbed by politicians, erring DPWH officials, and multibillion-peso flood control project contractors, a civic leader stressed that citizens should not be fooled by politicians trying to wash their hands of the controversy.

“The issue is clear: those now pointing fingers at Malacañang are the very same individuals whose own corruption and failures have long burdened the Filipino people. The recent spins are nothing more than a desperate diversion. Instead of cleaning their own ranks, they attack the Executive Secretary and the Cabinet, hoping to distract the public from the rot within their own institution,” said Alyansa ng Bantay sa Kapayapaan at Demokrasya chairperson Dr. Jose Antonio Goitia.

The civic leader said that at the center of the controversy is Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, a man whose name is synonymous with integrity.

He said that as former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Bersamin’s service has always been guided by law, fairness, and the defense of democratic institutions.

Bersamin earlier chided the House of Representatives to “clean your house first,” noting that no investigation, no matter how comprehensive, will bear fruit if lawmakers themselves refuse to confront the corruption festering within their chamber.

“How can they demand accountability from others when they themselves have yet to answer for their own betrayals of public trust?” Goitia said, stressing that this controversy should not derail the larger vision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a vision anchored on transparency and good governance.

“PBBM’s call is simple: honest leadership in service of the Filipino people. That is what the Executive Branch is delivering. Those who wish to sabotage this effort are not only undermining the President—they are betraying the nation,” he added, noting that the fight is bigger than personalities or political factions because it is about protecting the integrity of governance from the corrosive games of those who seek to cling to power by spreading lies.

“The Filipino people deserve leaders who stand for truth, not political theater,” he said.