Where do our taxes go?

What happened to the flood control projects?

Way back in September 2009, this question was asked following the catastrophic flooding unleashed by Tropical Storm Ondoy, which enhanced the southwest monsoon and dumped a record amount of rainfall in Metro Manila and neighboring areas.

The question is again being asked, including by lawmakers, after floods spawned by the typhoon-enhanced monsoon crippled Metro Manila and large swathes of Luzon this week.

Public frustration is deep not only because the Ondoy-type disaster caught everyone by surprise, leaving at least 21 people dead and extensive property damage, but also because only last Monday, President Marcos was touting disaster preparedness measures implemented under his watch.

Nearly a hundred evacuation centers have been built nationwide in the past two years, he announced at his third State of the Nation Address (SONA). A Disaster Response Command Center began operations last January.

More importantly, over 5,500 flood control projects have been completed, he trumpeted, with more in the pipeline. He cited the flood risk management project at the Cagayan de Oro River, and another one in Pampanga Bay.

Inspecting the damage yesterday in Metro Manila, BBM blamed climate change, and said the flood control projects must be tweaked to adapt to this problem.

But we’ve been talking about climate change since Super Typhoon Yolanda flattened much of Eastern Visayas in 2013, and even earlier than that, when a powerful storm surge from Manila Bay struck Manila at the height of Typhoon Pedring, destroying Sofitel’s famed Spiral restaurant in September 2011.

Maybe the National Capital Region was overlooked in the 5,500 flood control projects. Laughter will greet anyone who claims there’s a flood control program in the NCR.

There’s one in the Camanava area, which BBM inspected yesterday, but this was built many years ago. Its navigational gate was damaged last June by a barge that forced its way into the Malabon-Navotas River at low tide in Tanza Uno, Navotas. The repair is expected to last until next month. Until then, the Camanava area is expected to suffer worse flooding even during high tide.

*      *      *

In August last year, after Typhoon Egay caused massive flooding in many parts of Luzon, BBM reportedly asked senators over dinner at Malacañang for help in prosecuting those behind ineffective and corruption-tainted flood control projects.

The Senate set hearings on the flood control program of the Department of Public Works and Highways. I don’t remember anything coming out of that.

As in Egay, Bulacan province is again among the worst hit by flooding from the Carina-induced monsoon rains.

Last year, fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas blamed the severe flooding on reclamation projects that have blocked rivers and natural paths for water to drain into Manila Bay.

Pamalakaya specifically pointed to the international airport being built on a 2,500-hectare area along the bay by San Miguel Corp. in Bulakan, Bulacan. SMC has promised “engineering interventions” to prevent flooding, but seeing the state of Bulacan with the onslaught of Carina and the monsoon rains, I guess the interventions are still in the OPM stage.

And what ever happened to the probe on P332 billion spent on alleged ghost projects since 2016 in the Bicol Region, with P213 billion meant for flood control? Rolando Andaya Jr., the House majority leader at the time, said the lion’s share of the non-existent projects was cornered by a construction company allegedly with links to then budget chief Benjamin Diokno’s daughter.

Diokno denied the charges, and nothing came out of the probe. He’s now part of the Monetary Board where, incidentally, there seems to be an effort to sweep under the rug the ghost employee scandal that forced the resignation of MB Board members V. Bruce Tolentino and Anita Linda Aquino.

Sadly for Filipinos, there are two types of justice in this country. Lesser mortals in government land in prison for such an offense. MB members implicated in similar offenses are allowed to leave office quietly, with fat retirement packages. How will this impact confidence in the MB and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas?

*      *      *

A 10 percent amusement tax is collected from moviegoers, which goes mostly to flood control projects. The tax has been removed for local films, to assist the industry. Streaming services and prohibitive cinema ticket prices have brought down cinema viewership, but any tax collected from those hefty ticket fees should still amount to a considerable figure. Where do our taxes go?

The question about the amusement tax was also raised following the onslaught of Ondoy. We got no satisfactory answer, so people aren’t holding their breath about the planned Senate probe.

A motor vehicle user’s charge is also collected for vehicle registration. It’s supposed to go to the maintenance of national and provincial roads including safety measures. Last year, the House of Representatives passed a bill significantly raising the MVUC rates.

Again, where do our taxes go? Metro Manila is crisscrossed with toll roads operated by a handful of friends of the naghaharing uri, with more to come. Ordinary motorists, already burdened by high fuel costs, endure traffic at ground level to save on the road fees.

Providing the public with an adequate road network, for free, must be a basic duty of the government. I can understand the collection of tolls for expressways outside the National Capital Region and other highly urbanized cities. But within the NCR, the government must provide the roads for free, to ease traffic and cut logistics costs.

Yet the government can’t even build a five-kilometer road without a toll being collected. Like pass-through fees (which are still collected, contrary to BBM’s report in his SONA), road tolls are passed on to consumers, contributing to inflation.

With the private sector handling construction and maintenance of critical road networks, it should free up public funds and resources for a decent flood control system.

As Carina and the habagat showed, this is not the case, even in the National Capital Region.