It takes a mass movement to eliminate corruption—we’re not there yet but the public outrage is a good place to start.
The Marcos Jr administration is projecting an image of cracking down on corruption. The “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website was its symbolic start and succeeding weeks saw righteous anger from the president and budget secretary, replacing the public works and highways secretary with an “action man,” and congressional investigations by indignant legislators.
There’s no doubt that crusaders within the government are important. But the real test is how far those in government are willing to subject themselves to the bright disinfecting sunshine of relentless public scrutiny. There’s no reason yet to believe this is happening.
On the contrary, there is cause for skepticism—and for caution against being conditioned to believe that those so deeply immersed, involved and complicit in corruption for so long are the same ones to eradicate it. Can the ranks of the corrupt suddenly produce anti-corruption champions?
Selective, self-serving
The Marcos Jr administration’s seeming crackdown on corruption is not real if it is selective. Selectivity against political rivals or belligerent political allies is insincere and reduces the whole exercise to a merely performative show of good governance—spectacular, but just resulting in a few sacrificial lambs to please the public.
The “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website, which launched the administration’s anti-corruption campaign, is a case in point. This was immediately welcomed by the public as a show of real intent and purpose. The data provided seemed comprehensive enough to genuinely involve the people in a determined campaign against corruption.
The website gave information on about 9,759 flood control projects nationwide with a total cost of Php540.4 billion. These projects had an average project cost of Php55.5 million, with individual project costs varying widely from Php1.2 million to as much as Php289.5 million.
These projects started as early as February 2018 to as late as March 2025. Of the projects listed, 177 were started before 2022 and the balance 9,582 started from 2022 onwards. All had reported completion dates between July 2022 and May 2025.
Incomplete, opaque
However, the projects on the website appear to be just a fraction of the government’s flood control projects. The total Php540.4 billion project cost of the projects on the website are less than one-third (32%) of the Php1.7 trillion in flood control projects over 2018-2025 and not even one-half (45%) of the Php1.2 trillion in flood control projects over 2022-2025.
The website also avoids identifying the congressional districts and correspondingly the legislators potentially implicated in dubious pork barrel flood control projects. IBON tried to estimate flood control projects per congressional district based on the incomplete and imprecise data the “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website provides.
After some assumptions to be able to approximate allocations per congressional district, it appears that Lakas party members had the single biggest chunk of Php245 billion worth of projects in their districts or 45% of the total reported projects in the website. This was followed by National Unity Party (NUP) with Php86.7 billion (16% of projects), Nationalist Peoples Coalition (NPC) with Php79 billion (16%), Nacionalista Party (NP) with Php50.5 billion (11%), and Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) with Php37.8 billion (5%). Liberal Party members had Php16.3 billion worth of projects (3%) and others Php25.3 billion (4%).
While noting the limitations of imperfect available data and approximations, it appears that the congressional district with the most flood control projects is the first district of Misamis Oriental with 180 projects worth Php13.5 billion followed by Davao del Sur lone district with 182 projects worth Php10.4 billion, Occidental Mindoro lone district with 101 projects worth Php8.5 billion, and Abra lone district with 104 projects worth Php7.6 billion. The six districts of Bulacan have 665 projects worth Php43.7 billion, or an average of Php7.3 billion per district.
These estimates remain tentative partly due to the approximations involved, but mainly because the “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website omits Php656.1 billion in flood control projects between 2022-2025 and Php1.2 trillion from 2018-2025. These omissions are large enough to substantially change how much flood control projects the various congressional districts, representatives and political parties have.
As it is, the data provided is still not enough to be able to say which legislators got the most flood control projects—much less say which legislators got the most road, building, education, health, ayuda and other pork barrel projects.
Complete, clear
Data dumping should not be confused with genuine transparency. Skillfully used, this can even be diversionary.
The “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website is incomplete and project locations are still vague. This hides the true picture of congressional beneficiaries of the spending. The nearly 6,000 pages of the President’s Budget are all posted online—the National Expenditure Program (NEP), Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing (BESF), and Staffing Summary. Yet despite the thousands of pages, disaggregation is not complete and cross-referencing is impeded.
Many other important data about projects from their rationale all the way to their post-implementation audit remain unavailable. Even basic documents to expose corruption are unavailable. The statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) of politicians and officials are often falsified but are still treated like closely guarded state secrets.
This is where the Marcos Jr administration’s hyped anti-corruption drive stumbles. The public is given volumes of data, but selectively and in ways meant to overwhelm rather than truly inform and empower. The illusion of openness is created, but the most politically sensitive information is hidden.
The Marcos Jr administration, and in fact any government, cannot credibly lead anti-corruption campaigns because corruption is hardwired into the very powers, authority, and institutions of the state. The most important and effective measure to truly eliminate corruption is a constantly vigilant mass movement that relentlessly demands accountability.
For this, the people need real and useful information across the entire project cycle. This starts from the feasibility studies and government approvals, includes the detailed budgets and designs, tracks changes, amendments and insertions, checks for collusion patterns in bidding, verifies contracts and implementation, and publicizes detailed audit reports. Anything less should raise suspicions of concealment and manipulation to prevent holding the executive and legislature to account.
These basic documents and facts are necessary for an informed mass movement against corruption which will far exceed the occasional token, self-serving and politically-motivated campaigns. Modern digital technologies make it viable to immediately and constantly give citizens, media and civil society full real-time access to all these.
Beyond individual projects, attention should also be given to broader budget dimensions like sectoral allocations and their impact on production, jobs and social services. These warrant a separate and focused discussion.
Making all information available to all the people is not a favor but a democratic obligation. Full transparency is the necessary fuel for a mass movement to ensure that scarce public funds are not captured by political dynasties or wasted on patronage, but instead used for genuine development that serves the people.