At the 57th Annual Conference of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) on 7 October 2025, business leader Manuel V. Pangilinan called on the country’s financial and corporate executives to take an active role in fighting corruption — warning that the cost of inaction reaches deep into both the economy and society.

“It isn’t just about catching crooks — it’s filling the gaps with financial executives with competence and integrity. Corruption survives not because bad people are smart, but because good people are absent,” Pangilinan declared.

Business, governance, and a culture of accountability

The Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) chair’s remarks came amid heightened scrutiny of alleged “budget insertions” in public works and flood control projects, which have drawn widespread criticism for irregularities in cost and oversight.

Detailed findings from congressional hearings cited inflated project costs, fund mismanagement, and inadequate oversight in certain infrastructure allocations intended for flood mitigation. Lawmakers and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) have since identified duplicate and non-existent projects worth billions of pesos in the 2025 and 2026 budgets.

Earlier this week, Department of Finance Secretary Ralph Recto stated that the country has lost up to P118.5 billion due to anomalous flood control projects, while DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon confirmed that at least P268.3 billion in proposed flood-control allocations for 2026 were under review after being flagged as redundant or questionable.

Economic toll of graft

Pangilinan warned that corruption is not merely a moral issue but a serious drag on national productivity.

“Businesses must support making critical institutions stronger… which can push back the pressures of coercion and corruption — and thereby lessen the cost of doing business, the inequities in wealth created by corruption, not to mention the adverse effect on GDP growth when cash… are diverted to the wallets of the few,” he said.

He also pointed to the staggering sums reportedly tied to public fund misuse. “Cash of the magnitude of budget insertions — they say as much as one trillion pesos — are taken out of [the] pockets of the many who are poor, and diverted to the wallets of the few,” he stressed.

Pangilinan drew parallels to global corruption scandals such as the systematic embezzlement of Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign fund, emphasizing that unchecked graft erodes investor confidence and weakens state credibility.

Human cost and moral decline

Pangilinan reminded business leaders that moral decay inevitably leads to economic decline. “A country that is morally poor is likely to be also materially poor,” he said, quoting Wharton ethics professor Thomas Donaldson.

He added, “Corruption raises prices, lowers the quality of goods and services, and inflicts the greatest damage on the poor.”

Pangilinan also issued a stark warning to public officials. “No government, therefore, can truly serve its people when it permits pervasive graft within its ranks,” he said.

Call to business leadership

In his closing remarks, Pangilinan turned the spotlight on private enterprise, urging executives to uphold ethical standards within their own organizations.

“The challenge for transformative leadership today… [is] to create corporate cultures that encourage and reward integrity as much as vigorous entrepreneurship,” he said. “Profits are important. Doing well is necessary, but the way profits are achieved is also important.”