Accountability

Only several weeks remain in 2025a year defined by explosive headlines and revelations about the flood-control scandal.

- JOE ZALDARRIAGA

It was also the year nature forced us to confront the consequences of corruption that had plagued us for years: back-to-back typhoons unleashed catastrophic floods and landslides, claiming hundreds of lives and destroying the homes and livelihoods of millions of innocent Filipinos. Those who suffered were not the ones who betrayed public trust, yet they paid the highest price.

Typhoon Tino (international name Kalmaegi) swept through Visayas, leaving over 200 casualties and millions displaced. Before communities could recover, Super Typhoon Uwan (international name Fung-wong) quickly followed, worsening the devastation. These twin disasters were not just calamities, they were stress tests for government, exposing the magnitude of corruption that has claimed lives, washed away homes and ruined livelihoods.

The devastation left by the twin storms further flared public outrage over the web of corruption, ghost projects and substandard infrastructure that, instead of saving lives, have exposed communities to even greater vulnerabilities.