As Metro Manila and nearby provinces brace for another wet season, memories of past catastrophes linger—not just from typhoons, but from man-made disasters rooted in corruption. The flood control projects meant to protect millions have instead become symbols of institutional rot: overpriced, underbuilt, and riddled with anomalies that span decades.
From the Metro Manila Flood Management Project (MMFMP)—a $229-million World Bank-funded initiative later flagged for irregularities—to the 2023 Commission on Audit (COA) report exposing P7.1 billion in wasteful spending on unfinished or non-functional flood control structures, the pattern is clear: public funds vanish while floodwaters rise.
This raises a provocative, even heretical question: If Congress and the Senate—tasked with legislation, budget approval, and oversight—consistently enable or ignore such corruption, are they still viable institutions? And if not, what alternatives exist?
The Broken Oversight Machine
The 1987 Philippine Constitution grants Congress "the power of the purse" (Article VI, Section 24) and mandates the Senate’s role in confirming key appointments and investigating issues of public concern (Article VI, Section 21). Yet time and again, these powers have been weaponized for patronage, not accountability.
Case in point: The 2013 Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam, where 25 legislators—including senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Bong Revilla—were charged for allegedly funneling P70 billion into ghost projects via NGOs like those run by Janet Lim Napoles. Though some convictions followed (Revilla was acquitted in 2018; others remain pending), no systemic reform prevented recurrence.
More recently, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)—which executes flood control projects—has been repeatedly flagged by COA. In its 2023 Annual Audit Report, COA cited P1.8 billion in unliquidated cash advances and P2.3 billion in unimplemented projects under the “Flood Mitigation and River Rehabilitation” program. Despite this, the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA)—crafted and passed by Congress—increased DPWH’s budget to P912.7 billion, with minimal conditional safeguards.
Even when investigations happen, they often lack teeth. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, constitutionally empowered to probe corruption, has been criticized for partisan grandstanding rather than genuine reform. Its 2024 inquiry into DPWH anomalies stalled after only three hearings—overshadowed by political alliances ahead of the 2025 midterm elections.
Is Congress Still Viable?
The answer isn’t binary—but the institution is critically wounded.
Congress remains legally indispensable. The Constitution provides no mechanism to abolish it without a constitutional convention (Con-Con) or people’s initiative, both politically fraught and prone to elite capture. Yet viability isn’t just about existence—it’s about function.
A 2024 Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed only 32% of Filipinos trust Congress, down from 45% in 2019. When the body meant to represent the people becomes synonymous with “pork barrel,” “bodega politics,” and “budget padding,” legitimacy erodes.
But abolition isn’t the only path. Reform is possible—and urgent.
Alternatives Within the System
Rather than scrapping Congress, experts argue for structural and procedural overhauls:
1. Abolish the Pork Barrel Entirely
While the Supreme Court declared PDAF unconstitutional in 2013 (Belgica v. Ochoa, G.R. No. 208566), legislators simply rebranded it as “confidential funds” or “local development funds.” The 2024 GAA still allocates P12.4 billion in lump-sum funds with minimal transparency. A permanent, legally binding ban—with criminal penalties for violations—is needed.
2. Strengthen Independent Oversight
The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) and COA must be granted prosecutorial powers, not just auditing functions. Currently, COA can only “recommend” charges—it cannot file them. Amending Presidential Decree No. 1445 (Government Auditing Code) could empower COA to directly refer cases to the Ombudsman or Sandiganbayan.
3. Empower Local Governments
The Local Government Code of 1991 (RA 7160) already devolves flood control planning to LGUs. But national agencies like DPWH often override them. True decentralization—where cities like Marikina or Pasig manage their own flood infrastructure with direct national funding—could bypass congressional bottlenecks.
4. Citizen-Led Budget Monitoring
Laws like the Freedom of Information (FOI) Executive Order No. 02, s. 2016 allow public access to budgets. But implementation is weak. A mandatory real-time budget dashboard, integrated with GIS mapping of projects (like the World Bank’s “Open Contracting” model), would let citizens track spending on flood control down to the barangay level.
What If the System Won’t Change?
Some civil society groups, like Kontra Daya and Transparency International Philippines, now advocate for a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) to revise the 1987 Constitution—not to shift to federalism (as past administrations pushed), but to redesign legislative accountability mechanisms.
Proposals include:
- Electing senators by region, not nationally, to reduce celebrity-driven politics.
- Creating a non-partisan Budget Review Commission with technical experts to vet all infrastructure spending before congressional approval.
- Allowing recall elections for underperforming legislators via a revised Initiative and Referendum Act (RA 6735).
But these remain long shots. Without massive public pressure, elites will resist anything that dilutes their control.
The Bottom Line
Congress and the Senate are not obsolete—but they are failing. The flood control scandals are not anomalies; they are symptoms of a system where oversight is performative, accountability is delayed, and public service is conflated with political survival.
Yet the alternative isn’t anarchy or authoritarianism—it’s reimagined democracy. As political scientist Dr. Teresa Encarnacion Tadem of UP Diliman warns: “Removing Congress won’t remove corruption. But refusing to reform it guarantees more floods—both literal and systemic.”
The Philippine people deserve more than festive Christmas lights while their neighborhoods drown in neglect. They deserve a legislature that builds dikes, not dynasties.
#BalitangHuli
#CongressOnTrial
#FloodOfCorruption
#ReformNotRemoval
#AccountabilityNow
