The Philippines loses up to 70 per cent of government funds for flood-control projects to corruption, with losses as much as US$2 billion crimping economic growth in the past two years, according to a top official.
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Average economic losses from corruption in flood control projects under the Public Works Department reached about 42.3 billion pesos (US$738 million) to 118.5 billion pesos from 2023 to 2025, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said at a Senate budget hearing on Tuesday.
The estimate was based on anecdotal accounts that 25 per cent to 70 per cent of the total cost of these projects was lost to corruption, according to the finance chief’s presentation.
“There are ghost projects and poor-quality projects, and the people end up losing because government funds, which come from citizens’ taxes, are being wasted,” Recto told reporters.
Better spending could have propelled economic growth to 6 per cent in 2023 and 2024, Recto said. The Philippine economy expanded 5.5 per cent in 2023 and 5.7 per cent last year, both below government targets but still among the fastest in the region.
Reports of billions of pesos worth of flood-control projects that were awarded but never materialised or were substandard have fuelled public outrage in a country that periodically suffers from widespread flooding during the typhoon season.