The experiences of the people are fresh: battered by consecutive days of rain brought by typhoons and habagat, Filipinos in numerous areas experienced flooding that cost lives and livelihood, and caused disruption and displacement to millions.
The President acknowledged that many flood control projects are failures, or have collapsed. Some are imaginary. He also said it is common knowledge that such projects are opportunities for corruption. “Have some shame,” he told those conniving to profit from public funds, rob our citizens of their future and inundate the people in floodwater.
As a stern warning, he directed the Department of Public Works and Highways to submit a list of all flood control projects, and the Regional Project Monitoring Committee to identify which among these projects have failed, which have not been finished, and which have never existed in the first place.
The results will be made public. And then, an audit and a performance review would be conducted on these projects to determine how exactly public funds were spent, he said. Cases will be filed against those responsible – public officials and the contractors conspiring with them.
We only wish exacting accountability were as easy as the steps outlined above.
Looking at flood control projects should bring investigators back to the fundamental feasibility of these initiatives. Unfortunately, these are highly technical in nature, appreciated fully only by a handful of experts. One kind of audit would look only at the compliance of the project to documentary requirements. The bidding process could also present both loopholes and opportunities. Assessing the performance of the flood control project would need tools and know-how, both of which come in limited supply given budgetary concerns.
Public finance and audit experts say that the more technical the project, the higher the risk of being able to conceal wrongdoing in layers of complex terms. Ultimately, we have to take other people’s word when we have no means of verifying the accuracy of what they are saying.
Of course, going after the corrupt is another daunting challenge – in flood control projects and elsewhere. Even when confronted with evidence, they are able to hire the best lawyers who maneuver legal processes, allowing them to escape accountability. We have seen this play out countless times, then and now, causing only frustration and disillusionment.
The number and severity of extreme weather events are only expected to go higher in this new normal. We hope the casualties, damage, and disruption will decrease with time, even as the people’s indignation and desire for accountability increase with every storm that enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility. It may not be possible to see, in our lifetime, the comeuppance of those who profit out of people’s misfortune. But we can hope as we let our leaders know we are watching, and that our resilience is not of the meek, passive, and forgiving kind.
