Analysts warn of corruption risk over the Philippines’ year-long calamity declaration

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s yearlong national calamity declaration will fast-track rehabilitation efforts across typhoon-ravaged regions in the country, but it may also carry corruption risks, analysts said on Monday.

- By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio Reporter

While the declaration may accelerate fund disbursement and disaster recovery, they warned that relaxed bidding rules could expose an already corruption-prone procurement process to further abuse.

“Calamity declarations usually have twofold effects — make available the resources and funds over and above that are regularly appropriated, and ensure that their processing is easier and faster than normal,” Nigel Paul C. Villarete, a senior adviser at technical advisory group Libra Konsult, Inc., said ina Viber message.

Mr. Marcos last week placed the Philippines under a yearlong state of national calamity after two successive typhoons that left hundreds dead swept across the country. Damage valuation is still underway, but losses to infrastructure and agriculture often run into hundreds of millions, if not billions, of pesos.

The Southeast Asian nation is hit by an average of 20 typhoons a year, and a 2017 World Bank report estimates the country suffers $3.5 billion (P206 billion) in annual asset losses from typhoons and earthquakes.

Typhoon Kalmaegi, locally known as Tino, brought “torrential rains, widespread flooding and multiple landslide incidents” across the Philippines, according to Proclamation No. 1077, which authorizes streamlined procurement rules to fast-track recovery efforts, among others.

But the move may trigger a wave of corruption as authorities are empowered to bypass regular bidding and directly negotiate with suppliers, analysts said.