Unlike the tragic story of the Dutch Boy, the effort to halt corruption will take much more than sticking a finger in the dike, as businessmen find that legislators are now shifting to soft projects from infrastructure that used to be the favorite source of the pork barrel.

The pork barrel is mutating due to the investigations into the substandard flood control projects.

“In Congress, they’re worming their way into the ayuda or social amelioration programs,” Makati Business Club executive director Apa Ongpin said.

“That’s how they’re trying to take the money. It’s beyond infrastructure,” he added.

Moreover, more anti-corruption measures must be undertaken in other agencies.

The executives indicated that the Bureau of Customs and Bureau of Internal Revenue must also be checked. “Let’s not pretend that there’s no corruption there,” Ongpin said.

“For the Independent Commission for Infrastructure to show it is serious about ending corruption, the examples of Hong Kong and Singapore should be reviewed and possibly adopted since they were very effective,” Ongpin said.

Budget watchdogs said that among the consequences of the flood control project scandal is Filipinos’ loss of trust in the integrity of the budget procurement and justice systems.

In flooded communities in the Bicol region, some teachers had to conduct digital application drives to help their students return to school, as all their learning kits and even their homes were destroyed by a massive typhoon.

Despite the hundreds of billions of pesos spent yearly on flood control, master plans for 18 major river basins would have cost P700 to P800 billion.

In contrast, based on the various investigations, flood control spending over the past 10 years reached P1.7 trillion.

Those who are part of the racket exploit the duplicity of the justice system that places roadblocks to the filing of cases, even for high crimes.

“We consider our justice system to have two tiers — one for the rich and one for the poor,” according to a watchdog.

What was lost over the years is mind-boggling.

The Sumbong sa Pangulo website showed around P547 billion worth of flood control projects, while some P1.2 trillion was budgeted for flood control during the covered period.

About half of the budget, thus, is unaccounted for. Flood control is only a minimal addition to the budget compared to the P828 billion congressional insertions to the Convergence and Special Support Program (CSSP).

The CSSP is a key component of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget.

It funds multi-sectoral infrastructure projects that align with national priorities, including support for other agencies’ initiatives, access roads to economic zones, tourist sites, and sustainable development efforts.

These serve as a vehicle for congressional insertions that lack transparency and contribute to corruption, as highlighted in recent Senate probes into flood control anomalies.

With the public awakened to the level of irregularities, the pressure is bearing hard on the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., particularly on the special fact-finding Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI)

Thus, the call is for more transparency, including making the ICI hearings public.

The commission also should have the authority to file cases without having to go through the Ombudsman, the Department of Justice, or the Solicitor General.

It is not a game of perception but the application of real solutions to end the scourge afflicting Filipinos’ lives.