Clearing a tainted image abroad

The massive flood control scandal that became public in July last year has worsened the perception abroad of corruption in the country. For a third straight year, the Philippines slumped in the global rankings for 2025, falling six spots to 120th out of 182 countries in the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) report published last week by Transparency International (TI). It had a CPI score of 32 out of 100, which was below the global average of 42 and the regional average of 45 in Asia-Pacific. In Southeast Asia, only Cambodia at 163rd and the civil war-torn Myanmar at 169th had worse rankings than the Philippines.

Aside from the people losing trust in the government, being perceived as a very corrupt nation will make investors think twice before putting their money here. It is therefore imperative for the government to decisively address the root cause of the problem. TI has cited the numerous anticorruption protest actions across the country last year staged after initial investigations revealed the connivance of lawmakers, government officials, and private contractors in earning kickbacks from billions of pesos worth of government infrastructure projects in the past years.

“Frustration within the region at weak governance and limited accountability were clearly felt in 2025, with a surge in young people taking to the streets to demand action and accountability from their governments … With young people demanding better, leaders must act now to curb corruption and strengthen democracy. Meaningful reforms can rebuild public trust and show those in power are finally listening,” warned Ilham Mohamed, TI’s Asia-Pacific adviser.

A slew of cases

This is supported by a Pulse Asia survey conducted from Dec. 12 to 15, 2025, which showed that while 59 percent of the respondents expect the culprits in the flood control mess to be held liable, there were more people who expressed distrust than trust in President Marcos’ ability to address the scandal, receiving a 48-percent distrust rating compared with 30-percent trust. At the same time, only 44 percent of Filipino adults believe the justice system can successfully prosecute high-level corruption cases.

Malacañang has assured the public that the Marcos administration has not neglected the corruption issue, noting that investigations continue and more public officials will be held accountable in the coming months. However, the pace of the probe appears to have slowed down. Given the amount of testimonies and documents presented before the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) and the Senate blue ribbon committee, the people had expected the filing of a slew of cases against the accused politicians, government officials, and private individuals.

Supporting legislation

In the five months of its operations, the ICI came up with nine referrals recommending various criminal and administrative charges against 65 individuals, lawmakers, contractors, and past and present officials of Department of Public Works and Highways and the Commission on Audit. Through ICI’s investigations, the Anti-Money and Laundering Council has secured orders from the Court of Appeals for the freezing of more than 6,700 bank accounts and assets amounting to P24.7 billion.

Given the ICI’s lack of powers, it is better for Congress to pass the proposed Independent People’s Commission Act, which aims to create a body with strong prosecutorial powers to investigate anomalies in government infrastructure projects. Mr. Marcos has approved its inclusion in the 21 priority bills for passage by Congress by June this year.

Lawmakers must also pass immediately the supporting legislation to strengthen the government’s ability to prosecute those involved in the corruption scandal. These include the proposed amendments to the bank secrecy law to flush out the money stolen from the public, and the Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability Act that aims to institutionalize transparency by placing government budget records on a blockchain.

See Also

Talk of the Town: The world we seek to understand

Antidynasty law

Of equal importance is the proposed antipolitical dynasty law, which lawmakers have long shunned since it was mandated by the 1987 Constitution. Last week, a coalition of 31 business and civil society groups, among them the Makati Business Club and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, called for a public signature drive if Congress fails to pass a strong law with “clear and enforceable” provisions limiting political dynasties, arguing such a measure is needed to curb corruption. “The battle against political dynasties is a battle against corruption itself,” the coalition pointed out.

At the end of the day, only a credible investigation and prosecution of the guilty, no matter how high up they are in the government, will show the Marcos administration’s firm resolve to address corruption at its core and reverse the negative international perception about the extent of malfeasance in the Philippines.

******

Get real-time news updates: inqnews.net/inqviber