by Malou Mangahas and Mornie Mamorno
Right to Know Right Now (R2KRN) Coalition 

THE PLOT THICKENS, DEEPENS, and SICKENS

That is the story of the massive corruption in flood control projects from July 2022 to May 2025, according to https://www .sumbongsapangulo.ph/ data, drilled down to granular level.

The ghost, substandard, and kickbacks-ridden contracts that the top 18 contractors won — altogether almost 20 percent or PhP100 billion of the PhP546-billion aggregate value of 9,827 projects — have been initially exposed.

But the 80 percent balance of PhP446 billion, for now largely unexplored, reveals the stretch, depth, and enormity of even more irregularities. The public outcry against irregular flood control projects has fittingly been directed at the top contractors for now.

In truth, according to a former senior Audit official, corruption on the national level may be “kahindik-hindik” or outrageous, but local corruption altogether involves much bigger amounts and more players, and is more systemic and difficult to crack.

Research, data analysis, and interviews with contractors and public works officials conducted by the Right to Know Right Now (R2KRN) Coalition reveal that the corruption extends far and wide across the nation.

In some provinces, cities, and towns, the data show that local politicians and political clans have repeatedly awarded multiple contracts to the same and apparently favored companies, including some that their family members own or co-own.

This trend is apparent in Davao City and the provinces of Sorsogon, Cebu, Palawan, Isabela, Leyte, Cavite, and Ilocos Norte, the city of Manila, as well as Bicol Region — bailiwicks of the country’s more prominent political clans.

R2KRN’s other major findings follow:

• The home regions of today’s top politicians (at least in terms of name recognizability) have been allotted with three to 20 times more funds for flood-control projects from July 2022 to May 2025;

• Some provinces that are not among the country’s most flood-prone areas were awarded more funds for flood-control projects, while those usually inundated by floods received less in terms of funds and projects;

• Monies allotted to flood-control projects, including from congressional insertions and unprogrammed funds, marked a big uptick in the years 2023 and 2024, the years when Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy ‘Zaldy’ Co served as Speaker and chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations, respectively, and while Senators Francis Escudero and Joel Villanueva served as Senate president and majority floor leader, respectively;

• Differences in the modus or “business model” of the top contractors are apparent with Zaldy Co’s Sunwest Corporation going for big-value but fewer contracts, and the companies of Cezarah ‘Sara’ and Pacifico ‘Curlee’ Discaya getting as many contracts as they could, both big and small ones, across nearly all the regions of the country;

• The ties that bind some district engineering offices with certain contractors are apparent in the repeat, multiple contracts awarded to the latter during the period on the same day — or what is known in construction circles as “one day, one day contracts”; and,

• Apart from the top 18 contractors that have secured contracts most everywhere in the regions and provinces, other market leaders have emerged, most of them with either real or apparent, or in some cases perceived, ties to local and national politicians.

The allocations for flood-control projects from July 2022 to May 2025 across regions of the country varied wildly.

Top-ranked Central Luzon was allotted PhP98 billion, in contrast to just PhP5.8 billion allotted to Zamboanga Peninsula, the cellar-dweller. (See Tables 1 and 2, and Figure 1.)

The data show that allocations for the top 50 provinces and chartered cities with flood-control projects varied just as starkly. (See Table 3 and Figure 2.)

Bulacan province topped the list with PhP28.6 billion, followed by the provinces of Cebu, Isabela (the bailiwick of new House Speaker Faustino ‘Bojie’ Dy III), Camarines Sur, and the city of Manila.

Notably, the value of flood-control projects in the top provinces and cities jumped by six to eight times between July 2022 and May 2025.

• Check out, for instance, the marvelous uptick across that 34-month period in project funds allotted to:
  o Bulacan, from PhP3.1 billion in July 2022 to PhP28.56 billion in May 2025;
  o Cebu, PhP3.01 billion to PhP19.56 billion;
  o Isabela, PhP2.60 billion to PhP19.25 billion;
  o Camarines Sur, PhP2.93 billion to PhP16.81 billion; and
  o City of Manila, PhP3.50 billion to PhP14.46 billion.
  
• A similar uptrend could be seen in the case of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ’s Ilocos Norte home province: from PhP463.67 million in July 2022 to PhP8.72 billion by May 2025. It had no project entries, though, for January to May this year.

• The Dutertes’ bailiwick of Davao City and Davao del Sur was similarly blessed with flood-control projects valued at PhP2.19 billion in July 2022, which rose to PhP7.69 billion in May 2025 – despite having no update as well for January to May 2025.

• Leyte, home province of recently resigned House Speaker Martin Romualdez, was also a winner. The value of its flood-control projects rose from PhP2.17 billion to PhP10.06 billion across the 34-month period data enrolled in https://sumbongsapangulo.ph. Yet, like Ilocos Norte and Davao City, entries for Leyte were only up to 2024.

• Two Bicol Region provinces, Camarines Sur and Albay, bagged similarly big increases.
  ○ Camarines Sur’s PhP2.93 billion project funds in July 2022 rose to PhP16.82 billion by May 2025.
  ○ Albay’s PhP2.95 billion in July 2022 rose to PhP11.16 billion by May 2025.  Congressman Zaldy Co and Senator Escudero both hail from the Bicol Region.

In contrast, in the list of top 50 provinces and cities, the five that got the least fund for flood- control projects were, from bottom up, Agusan del Sur, North Cotabato, Bacoor City in Cavite, the city of Malabon, and the city of San Jose del Monte in Bulacan.

Each got only PhP3.4 billion to PhP3.7 billion in flood-control projects, from July 2022 to May 2025, or just a sliver and at most only 10 percent of the total amounts received by the top-five provinces.

At a press conference last month, President Marcos Jr. himself had called attention to the same disparities.

He listed the following provinces as recipients of the largest number of flood-control projects: Bulacan, 668 projects; Cebu, 414; Isabela, 341; Pangasinan, 313; Pampanga, 292; Albay, 273; Leyte, 262; Tarlac, 258; Camarines Sur, 252; and Ilocos Norte, 224. (NOTE: These figures do not exactly match the published Sumbong data.)

The President then noted that the National Adaptation Plan of the Philippines 2023-2050 had listed the following as the most flood-prone provinces, yet with most of these receiving fewer projects: Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Bulacan, Metro Manila, Maguindanao, North Cotabato, Oriental Mindoro, and Ilocos Norte.

The latest PhilAtlas data pegged on the 2020 national census showed that the top three regions, according to population size, are CALABARZON with 16.2 million residents; Metro Manila, 13.5 million; and Central Luzon, 12.42 million. These three regions are home to four in every 10 Filipinos or 40 percent of the national population. (See Table 4.)

The three regions with the smallest population are the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) with 1.8 million residents; CARAGA, 2.8 million; and MIMAROPA, 3.22 million.

Seventeen of the country’s 18 regions have coastal borders and had been visited by light to heavy flooding in part or wholly, in recent years. Only CAR is landlocked.

Drilled with component cities and municipalities as data focus, https://sumbongsapangulo.ph shows the top eight areas based on the value of their flood-control projects from July 2022 to May 2025 as: (See Table 5 and Figure 3.)

• Manila with PhP 14.5 billion;
• Davao City, PhP7.7 billion;
• Taguig City, PhP 6.03 billion;
• Baliuag City in Bulacan, PhP6.02 billion;
• Naujan in Oriental Mindoro, PhP6.016 billion;
• Butuan City in Agusan del Norte, PhP5.99 billion;
• Quezon City, PhP 5.33 billion; and,
• Tarlac City, PhP4.51 billion.

In contrast, the cities with the lowest amount of flood-control projects for the same 34-month period were, from bottom up: Canlaon City in Negros Oriental, Roxas City in Capiz, Marawi City in Lanao del Sur, Lamitan City in Basilan, and Tagaytay City in Cavite. [Malou Mangahas and Mornie Mamorno, Right to Know Right Now (R2KRN) Coalition]