Given the current state of affairs, the billions lost to corruption in flood control projects cannot be recovered, and the nation is aware of this. Apparently, the very people who had direct oversight of these funds cannot credibly distance themselves from the scandal, no matter how hard they try.
The allocations did not slip quietly into the budget. They were inserted under the close and deliberate watch of the former House Speaker and the President, both of whom were fully aware of how these funds moved from proposal to release. Given their central roles, any claim of ignorance is undermined by the budgetary process itself, which demands scrutiny and approval at every stage. These billions did not appear by accident; they were shepherded through a system controlled by the highest political hands.
This is precisely why no mastermind has been prosecuted. The architects of the scheme allegedly sit at the top of the political hierarchy, shielded not by law but by their own power. When suspects and investigators breathe the same political air, accountability becomes a distant dream. The scandal survives not because evidence is lacking but because the culprits occupy the very seats that should have pursued justice with vigor.
In such an environment, the idea of recovering the stolen funds is nothing but a hollow fantasy. Once public money is siphoned off and dispersed through networks designed to erase the trail, the government stands no chance of recovering it. Years will pass, testimonies will fade, and the coffers will remain empty while the perpetrators thrive. The country has seen this pattern before—grand theft followed by prolonged silence—and the current scandal follows the same script with chilling precision.
What remains is the urgent need for structural reckoning. Independent oversight bodies must be empowered to investigate even the highest officials without fear or interference. Budget insertions must be publicly itemized, audited in real time, and subjected to mandatory transparency safeguards. Without such reforms, every peso allocated to public works will remain vulnerable to plunder, and every scandal will end the same way—no accountability, no recovery, and no justice.
