WHEN PHILIPPINES FLOOD SCAM PROBE WENT LIVE

Livestreamed inquiry into flood mess sheds light on how money can be put to good use

- BY JAY HILOTIN | Senior Assistant Editor

Imagine this: corruption probes, like the one being conducted by the Indepedent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) in Manila, livestreamed for the whole nation to see.

Would that change the game for the Philippines? Would Filipino voters finally ditch the old-school tribal and dynastic politics, or just hit replay on the same drama?

Not just a glitch

Corruption in the Philippines isn’t just a glitch. It’s culture. It runs deep. Every election, people (especially in rural areas) expect money and sell their votes to the highest bidder. It’s a deal — the sale of one’s dignity — made in hell.

Result: Post-elections, politicians grab their return on investment (ROI) through midnight-budget heists and a parade of “liar projects” (amounting to billions of dollars worth of “ghosts”, apart from the substandard or abandoned ones).

Long term: Crumbling infrastructure, bad tourism numbers, poor jobs creation, poorest-in-the-region economy. This anay (termite) culture eats up the entire house until only the shell is left. Filipino taxpayers end up feeding hungry crocodiles — except calling these corrupt politicians crocs insults the animal kingdom. But prior to livestreamed hearing, few people knew this narrative in graphic, bit-by-bit detail showing how the stolen billions flow.

What surveys show