AI can catch the corrupt

AI can catch the corrupt | Daily Tribune

On 6 November 2006, the Philippines ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). On that day, the Philippines pledged to combat corruption not only within its borders but in solidarity with the global community of nations.

Nearly two decades later, that promise rings hollow. From the plunder trial of former President Joseph Estrada to the pork barrel scam during the Aquino administration, the story has been the same: scandals erupt, hearings are held, but the powerful almost never go to jail.

This reality proves one thing. People alone cannot be trusted to fight corruption. Institutions are weak, easily bent by influence or compromised by politics. If the system cannot hold the powerful accountable, then it is time to build a system where corruption is nearly impossible to commit. That is where artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain come in.

The scale of the problem is staggering. Punongbayan estimated that about P1.6 trillion, or one-fifth of the 2024 national budget, was lost to corruption.

In flood-control projects alone, the Department of Finance estimated losses of P42.3 billion to P118.5 billion annually between 2023 and 2025.

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said that without such losses, the economy could have grown by up to 6 percent. These are funds that should have gone to schools, hospitals, and infrastructure, but instead vanished into ghost projects, kickbacks, and inflated contracts.

How can blockchain help stop this bleeding? First, it ensures the immutability of records. Once a contract or procurement document is entered into the blockchain, it cannot be altered without leaving a trace. This makes it impossible for officials to secretly change terms, inflate costs, or erase transactions.

Second, blockchain provides radical transparency. Bids, awards, payments, and project milestones can be recorded and made visible not just to regulators, but to citizens, watchdogs, and the media. Every peso spent can be tracked in real time.

Third, smart contracts, self-executing agreements coded into the blockchain, can release funds only when specific conditions are met. A contractor, for instance, would only be paid once sensors or independent auditors confirm that a road has been completed. This takes the discretion away from corrupt officials who currently approve payments for ghost projects.

Fourth, blockchain enables beneficial ownership verification. Too often, the same people hide behind multiple companies and “compete” against themselves in public biddings. If linked to SEC registries, blockchain can instantly expose these shadow bidders and prevent collusion.

Finally, every action, every signature, amendment, and payment is time-stamped, creating a permanent audit trail. This makes coverups almost impossible and gives AI the raw data it needs to spot suspicious patterns across agencies and years.

The use of AI serves as the brain behind the data. Once public procurement systems are digitized and integrated with blockchain, AI can be deployed to analyze the vast volumes of transactions in real time.

It can flag unusual patterns, including inflated bids, or repetitive winning contractors, long before human auditors are able to detect the same. AI can also predict which projects are most vulnerable to corruption based on historical data, helping agencies to focus their oversight on efforts where it matters most. In essence, AI doesn’t just monitor corruption; it anticipates it and prevents it.

The challenge of corruption in the Philippines is deeply rooted, systemic, and complex, but it is not unsolvable. While the political will of those in power remains essential, it must now be matched with technological muscle.

The combination of AI and blockchain offers a rare opportunity, not just to punish corruption after the fact, but to engineer it out of the system entirely.

If we are serious about our UNCAC commitments, then we must stop relying on promises and start investing in the technologies that make integrity automatic. The future of clean governance isn’t just about better people, it’s about building better systems.