EDITORIAL - Where do our billions go?

It’s been days since the country felt the full wrath of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine, and now another tropical cyclone has entered the Philippine area of responsibility, threatening to intensify into a super typhoon with the strength of Yolanda. And yet in many parts of the Bicol Region and several areas hit by Kristine, the torrential floods have yet to fully subside. As of yesterday, the death toll from Kristine and the cataclysmic flooding that it spawned had risen to 145.

The high death toll plus the devastation caused by Kristine on agriculture, private property and public infrastructure have raised questions on the utilization of the billions allocated annually for flood control projects. Yesterday, President Marcos’ sister, Sen. Imee Marcos, demanded a full accounting of the P132 billion that she said was allocated for flood control in Bicol over the past six years, with P86.6 billion of the amount appropriated in the past two years alone. For 2024, she said, the region has P31.94 billion allocated for flood control.

Nationwide, the flood control funding of the Department of Public Works and Highways for this year is reportedly around P255 billion. The amount is way higher than the entire P40.13-billion appropriation for the Department of Agriculture and P24.57 billion for the Department of Health. Apart from the DPWH, other agencies involved in flood control are local government units. In the National Capital Region, the task has been given to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

Where do the billions in taxes go?

While scrutinizing the utilization of the flood control funding, lawmakers should also take a second look at the wide leeway given to local governments for flood control. Like traffic in Greater Manila and other urban centers in the country, devolution has led to piecemeal and uncoordinated implementation of flood control projects. Rivers that overflow and mountains that are hit by landslides during torrential rainfall typically straddle multiple cities, towns and even provinces. Flood control in such areas works best with coordinated approaches, with manmade interventions interoperable.

While devolution has its advantages, it can also hamper the long-term and nationally coordinated planning needed for major projects such as flood control infrastructure. Local executives tend to plan their projects and programs in three-year increments – the duration of their term in office.

There is also the problem of corruption, which certain local government officials and even private contractors have cited. Multilateral aid agencies and other institutions have conducted studies showing that road and flood control projects are among the biggest sources of corruption in developing countries. Flood control projects in particular can be difficult to check for proper implementation and completion. The consequences of fund misuse, as the country is seeing, can be catastrophic.