Since 2012, when the global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) shifted to a 100-point scoring scale, the Philippines has plunged to its worst grade of 32 last year, with the flood control mess as a backdrop.

TI’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) has used different scoring scales over time.

From 1995 to 2011, it was scored on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (very clean). From 2012, however, the scale changed to 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

The index ranks 182 countries, with the Philippines at 120th, the lowest among the major members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), below Thailand at 116th. The country’s grade was worse than the 33 it posted in 2024.

The flood control outrage was the apparent culprit for the CPI plummet as TI indicated that since 2023, a significant portion of the budget for such projects has been exposed to alleged misappropriation.

“Losses potentially exceed $19 billion (P1.1 trillion). In 2025 alone, $3 billion (P174 billion) of flood-related climate projects might have been lost to corruption,” the TI said.

The report added that the funds, managed primarily by the Department of Public Works and Highways, were intended to build resilience in highly climate-vulnerable areas through flood control infrastructure.

The projects were substandard, overpriced, and, in several instances, did not exist to secure kickbacks for legislators.

Under the pork barrel racket, which has plagued yearly budgets but intensified during the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., officials and contractors have diverted public funds for their benefit.

The report said the scandal undermined the integrity of government programs designed to protect communities from increasingly frequent and intense flooding.

The scale of the misappropriation contributed to both financial inefficiencies and weakened climate adaptation capacity, leaving millions of Filipinos exposed to disaster risks.

It attributed the corruption-prone spending to the emphasis on large-scale gray infrastructure projects rather than nature-based or community-led solutions.

This has compounded communities’ vulnerabilities while creating opportunities for inflated costs, overpricing, and substandard project delivery.

Worsening corruption, or the perception of it, will have an impact beyond immediate financial losses.

TI said the controversy eroded public trust in governance, impaired the country’s ability to implement effective adaptation strategies, and risked compromising future public and private investments in climate resilience.

It lamented that resources that could have protected communities from the ravages of worsening weather patterns were reallocated for personal gain.

“The scandal illustrates how mismanagement and opaque use and distribution of funds in public sector adaptation projects can directly undermine climate goals, as it can create conditions in which resources meant to protect communities from climate change may be diverted,” it added.

With the TI ranking, the Philippines has come full circle since the extended term of former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., when corruption contributed to the country’s foreign debt ballooning from about $1 billion in 1965 to over $26 billion by 1986, with up to a third of loans allegedly diverted for personal gain.

In a similar fashion, but on a larger scale, the substandard infrastructure was considered unprecedented, as kickbacks were prioritized through a conspiracy involving the highest officials of the land, with the Palace’s participation or consent.

The downfall of the corrupt regime, then as now, seems inevitable.