Fixing potholes in the system

Filipinos have had enough. Every downpour brings the same heartbreaking scenes: students trudging through floodwaters, risking illness just to get home. Workers and commuters drenched and stranded for hours, desperate to reunite with their families.

- JOE ZALDARRIAGA

Cars and motorcycles, many still under loan, submerged. Appliances bought with hard-earned money, ruined.

That is why when revelations surfaced about the country's flood control projects, the public outrage that ensued was not just understandable—it was justified. This broken system has allowed corruption and incompetence to thrive unchecked for years. It's time to demand accountability. It's time to end the cycle.

Following his revelation on the concentration of flood control contracts among a select few firms, President Marcos said his administration is eyeing filing economic sabotage cases against contractors of ghost flood control projects. This came after field inspections of major flood control projects tagged as "completed" in official records but turned out to be either unfinished, substandard or worse, non-existent.

The recent revelations are only a concrete confirmation of what we all know has been going on: public funds meant to uplift communities and improve lives are being diverted into the hands of a privileged few.

Contractors who pocket public funds without fulfilling their contracts should not only be named and shamed—they must be fined, blacklisted and prosecuted. Likewise, government officials who approved, tolerated or failed to monitor these projects must also be held accountable and must face a heavier penalty.