The dismissal of the impeachment complaint filed by members of the Makabayan bloc against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr raises serious concerns—not only about flood control corruption, but about the systemic use of state power and public resources for elite and private gain.
Beyond the 2022–2025 flood control projects corruption scandal, the complaint points to deeper structural problems in governance, where control over the bureaucracy and the national budget becomes a tool for political consolidation and patronage.
Grounds for impeachment per Makabayan complaint:
1. The President institutionalized systemic corruption through budget ‘allocables’
From 2022 to 2025, flood control projects received a cumulative Php545.6 billion. The President used the “deliberate, top-down system of plunder” – the Baselined–Balanced–Managed (BBM) ‘allocables’ formula, which the complaint said provided the justification for Presidential and Congressional infrastructure project allocations, and which would then be the basis for kickbacks.
2. Abuse of discretionary power over unprogrammed appropriations
Figures cited in the complaint show unprogrammed appropriations surging from Php251.6 billion in 2022 to Php807.2 billion in 2023 and Php731.4 billion in 2024. At his discretion and authority the President “transformed the national budget into a private slush fund”, allowing massive flood control funds to be released outside the regular budget process and beyond Congressional scrutiny, and used for political accommodation rather than real emergencies or public needs.
3. Direct presidential role in budget insertions and kickback schemes
The complaint flagged budget insertions in flood control projects ordered by the President amounting to around Php100 billion in the 2025 national budget. Former officials claimed that Php8 billion of kickbacks were delivered for the President. The Chief Executive is identified as the ultimate recipient and beneficiary of this “hostile takeover of the state’s financial machinery to convert public funds into private wealth and political power.”
Public action matters
Congress dismissed the impeachment complaint without trial or investigation. This does not erase the issues raised.
With formal accountability mechanisms failing, all the more should there be public vigilance, collective action, and sustained challenge to the system that normalizes corruption and allows impunity to persist.
