Ateneo School of Government (ASOG) Condemns Perverse Level of Greed
22 Sept 2025
We are appalled by the gravity of human greed that we are witnessing. We are horrified by
the blatant disregard for the rule of law. We are stunned by the complicity of leaders in
flagrant corrupt practices.
The deepening crisis of corruption is systematically eroding the integrity of public
institutions, and corroding the moral fabric of public service. The magnitude of resources
siphoned through these practices is not only alarming but profoundly disturbing.
We offer the following data to contribute to finding greater clarity, and deepening the level
of discourse on the issue.
1. Flood-gate scandal
Fiscal Year Flood Control Budget (FCB) Percentage of FCB in
GAA1
2015 42,283,158,000 1.62%
2016 64,200,000,0002 2.14%
2017 72,926,249,000 2.18%
2018 127,734,500,000 3.39%
2019 90,723,796,000 2.48%
2020 90,123,209,000 2.20%
2021 101,813,674,000 2.26%
2022 128,966,726,000 2.57%
2023 182,989,695,000 3.47%
2024 244,577,911,000 4.24%
2025 254,300,000,0003 4.02%
Source: GAA; DPWH
The scandal involving ghost projects, misallocation of funds, collusion between contractors
and government officials, conflicts of interest, and monopolies of contractors involving
billions of pesos, makes one’s head spin.
1
Percentage of Flood Control Budget to GAA is computed using open source data
2
DPWH data
3
On the 2025 flood control budget: The 2025 NEP and GAA shows ₱254.3B allocation for flood control. If one
goes through the insertions, there are other flood control-like projects totaling ₱242B spread out in the GAA,
which can bring the total up to ₱496.3B. In his media statements, PBBM uses the amount ₱350B - this appears
to be a subset of the bigger total.
Based on a report by the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD),
the Flood Management Program (FMP)4 has the biggest allocation in the DPWH budget, at
P254.3 billion or 32.1% of the DPWH operations budget in 2025, almost doubled compared
to 2022. The FMP budget is higher than the budget of the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (P230.1 billion), the Department of Health (P223.2 billion), the Department of
Transportation (P180.9 billion), and the Department of Agriculture (P129.0 billion).
Corruption in the DPWH has spanned decades, and fixing the system requires strong political
will from the political leaders. The DPWH budget, which for the first time hit one trillion
pesos in the 2025 GAA, has so far surpassed the budget for education, in violation of the
Constitutional mandate.5 . We therefore ask – Are flood control projects (which constitute
22% of the DPWH budget) more important than addressing the 160,000 classroom backlog
and the dilapidated condition of 70% of existing classrooms?
The Flood-gate scandal, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. Deeper and more serious
concerns need to be surfaced in the debate.
2. Development for whom?
Amount
Budget Cut from Agencies (in Php Billion)
Natl Irrigation Authority 23.2
DA 22.4
DOLE 18
DOTr 16.7
AFP Modernization 5.0
PNOC 2.0
Amount
Budget Diverted to Agencies (in Php Billion)
DPWH 94.3
(26 B was vetoed)
LGSF (Local Govt Support Fund) 7.2
MMDA 3.4
NEA 3.2
TIEZA 1.5
PPA 1.4
Source: 2025 GAB Bicameral Report
4
The FMP budget in 2025 is composed of the following: (i) Construction/ Maintenance of Flood Mitigation
Structures and Drainage Systems (P136.2 billion), Construction/Rehabilitation of Flood Mitigation Facilities
within Major River Basins and Principal Rivers (P90.5 billion), and Flood Control Foreign-assisted Projects (FAPs)
with a combined budget of P27.6 billion. (Source: CPBRD)
5
Art XIV, Sec 5(5) of the 1987 Constitution requires that education gets the highest budget allocation
Urban infrastructures at the expense of rural development underscores the bias of
privileging urban-based over rural-based development. Budget cuts and movement away
from strategic transport, infrastructure, agriculture-based investments, to graft-prone
projects like flood control, multi-purpose buildings, and hyper-micro local projects, like local
roads, footbridges, and deep wells, interrogate the supposed rural development priority of
the administration.
Moreover, the inability to properly manage the budget will continue the over reliance on
borrowing, and will keep the trend of the national debt growing faster than the GDP growth.
For 2025, forty percent of the budget is funded by borrowings. As of the end of April 2025,
the national debt has grown to ₱16.75 trillion, up from ₱12.79 trillion in 2022; and debt as a
percentage of GDP is 63.1% as of the end of the 2nd quarter 2025, which is above the
threshold. The accumulation of debt, combined with high interest rates, will continue to
increase the cost of servicing. It was ₱ 1.6 trillion in 2023, grew by 26% in 2024, and may
continue to grow in 2025. Debt servicing will continue to eat up a significant portion of
budget expenditure.
3. Rules-based versus Padrino-based poverty reduction
The poverty reduction program of the administration is among the casualties in the current
corruption malady. The budget cut and subsequent budget diversion are indicative of the
priority direction of the administration.
Amount
Budget Cut from Agencies (in Php Billion)
DSWD 94.3
PhilHealth 74.4
DOH 25.8
DepEd 12
DOLE 18
NCIP 1.6
Amount
Budget Diverted to Agencies (in Php Billion)
AKAP (Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program) 26
MAIFID (Medical Assistance to Indigent and 14.3
Financially Incapacitated Patients)
AICS (Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation) 9.5
SUCs (State Universities and Colleges) 7.0
TUPAD (Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating 3.4
Disadvantaged/ Displaced Workers)
Rules-based programs, like the 4Ps or the Conditional Cash Transfer Program, the flagship of
the country’s anti-poverty efforts, together with Philhealth, have suffered severe cuts in
their budgets.
In 2025, the 4Ps budget was reduced by ₱50 billion, part of the ₱94 billion taken from the
DSWD budget. Philhealth’s subsidy of ₱74.4 billion was reduced to zero. In their place,
generous funding was provided to cash dole outs, like AKAP, AICS, MAIFP and TUPAD.
These programs have no system for identifying beneficiaries and conditions for qualifying as
a beneficiary. In 2025, the budget for these programs totaled ₱130 billion. Greater role and
discretion are given to politicians in the selection of projects, beneficiaries and amounts of
assistance and visibility in the distribution of the same. Social services are headed towards
becoming a matter of utang na loob, not a matter of right.
4. Complicity in corruption
The executive and legislative directly benefited from budget diversion.
Diverted to (in Php Billion)
House of Rep 17.3
Office of the Pres 5.0
Senate 1.0
Source: 2025 GAB Bicameral Report
The table below presents the total annual budget of the Office of the President, the Office of
the Vice President, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. A computation is made to
show the breakdown of how much taxpayers pay to sustain each political leader on a per
month and per day basis.6 The 2016 budget is shown for comparative purposes.
Institution Percentage
2025 Budget (Php) 2016 Budget increase over
(Php) 2016 budget7
Office of the President 15,845,475,000
OP budget per Month 1,320,456,250 2,825,998,000 461% increase
OP Budget per day 43,412,260
Office of the Vice Pres 733,198,000
OVP budget/ Month 61,099,833 500,000,000 47% increase
OVP budget / day 2,008,762
Senate 13,930,174,000
Budget Per Senator/ Year 580,423,917 3,717,633,000 275% increase
6
Computation of monthly and daily costs is done by ASOG using annual figures; budget per day is computed
using 365 days/ year
7
Formula for Percentage Increase = [(2025 Budget - 2016 Budget)/2016 Budget] * 100
Budget/ Senator/ month 48,368,659
Budget/ Senator/ day 1,590,202
8
House of Representatives 33,670,000,000
Budget/ Representative/ year 105,880,503 8,861,413,000 280% increase
Budget/ Rep per Month 8,823,375
Budget/ Rep per Day 290,083
Source: 2025 GAB Bicameral Report; 2016 GAA
Why was there an exponential increase in the budget of these agencies? How much of
these are under oversight scrutiny, and how much are confidential funds?
We therefore pose this challenge – if the administration is serious in weeding out
corruption, we demand that it carry out an institutional scrutiny up to the highest echelon of
power.
The Pillage of the Budget Demoralizes the Bureaucracy
The repeated violation of laws and jurisprudence on matters of budget has weakened the
rule of law and the system of checks and balances that are cornerstones of our system of
representative democracy.
As an institution that’s committed to ethics and integrity in governance, we join the public
in making the following demands:
(1)We call on our legislators to continue the conduct of hearings in aid of legislation,
and correct the flaws and loopholes of our existing laws; we must end the
grandstanding and public hearings in-aid-of-reelection practice;
(2)We call on the newly created Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) to
remain faithful to its mandate and sworn duty, and carry out the investigation
truthfully;
(3)We call on agencies - DPWH, DBM, DILG, and concerned LGUs, to give their full
support to the investigation of the ICI -
The Senate and the House of Representatives must also submit to the ICI the
Bicameral Conference Committee Reports of 2023, 2024 and 2025 that were signed
by the Bicam conferees and ratified by the plenary of both chambers.
These Reports are public documents and therefore must also be made accessible to
the public.
8
318 HOR members in 2025
(4)We ask the ICI to include the following in the conduct of their investigation -
a) Senate and HOR Chairpersons and Vice-Chairpersons of the Finance and
Appropriation Committees, including the technical staff;
b) Former Senate President Chiz Escudero and former Speaker Martin
Romualdez;
c) Executive Secretary and members of the Development Budget Coordinating
Committee (DBCC), to answer why huge budget cuts and diversions
happened in 2023, 2024 and 2025 without any interventions and
protestations from the Executive;
d) Commission on Audit for its failure to ensure responsible use of public
funds.
(5)We call for transparent, inclusive, and honest hearings and investigations, giving
the public due access to the records related to government funds and the national
budget.
Public office is a public trust. Today, the trust is broken.
We support the current efforts of the administration to address the issue and regain the
trust of the public. We challenge the President to sustain the momentum and to penalize
all who are involved in corruption. We offer our talents to help find solutions to
governance problems.
Ateneo School of Government
Quezon City, Philippines
22 Sept 2025
