The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of any institution or organization.
As President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stood on the rostrum during his latest State of the Nation Address (SONA), he delivered one of the most emotionally charged lines of his speech: “Mahiya naman kayo.” The phrase, raw and cutting, was directed at those responsible for the misuse of billions of pesos allocated to flood control projects—a national scandal that has become as bloated and murky as the waterways these projects were supposed to rehabilitate.
But the nation must ask: Who exactly was the President talking to?
Because right in front of him—quite literally—sat the very people allegedly neck-deep in this scandal. If the President was truly addressing the corrupt, then his “Mahiya naman kayo” should have been a direct indictment of some members of the House of Representatives, including Speaker Martin Romualdez, his own cousin, and a string of congressmen who have been tagged as “CONGtractors”—lawmakers who moonlight as contractors or use relatives to run construction firms benefiting from government projects they themselves approve.
67 Congressmen. One Broken System.
Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson’s exposé should have shaken the legislative branch to its core. In his shocking revelation, Lacson said at least 67 members of the House of Representatives were allegedly acting as contractors for government-funded infrastructure projects. This, in clear violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) and the Code of Conduct for Public Officials (RA 6713).
Worse, these projects are not just any infrastructure—they are flood control programs amounting to over ₱800 billion, much of it inserted quietly into the national budget during bicameral deliberations. According to Lacson, kickbacks for these projects could reach up to 50% of the total project cost. Imagine that: for every ₱100 million project, ₱50 million could be going into the pockets of politicians and their cronies.
One grotesque anecdote shared by Lacson involved 50 simultaneous flood control projects in a single area, all allegedly using the same backhoe. Out of a ₱2.5 billion budget, only ₱500 million may have been spent, while the remaining ₱2 billion likely vanished into the black hole of institutionalized corruption.
What Happened to Shame?
If the President truly meant those words—“Mahiya naman kayo”—why is he not naming names? Why is there no decisive follow-through? Why is there no full-scale, independent, and transparent investigation?
Let us not be fooled by optics. This is not a question of simply mismanaged funds. It is a betrayal of public trust on a monumental scale. Every peso stolen is a school left unbuilt, a hospital under-equipped, a community left to drown in the next typhoon.
Yet instead of pursuing this scandal with the full weight of executive power, Congress has instead shifted its attention to targeting Vice President Sara Duterte over her confidential and intelligence funds—funds that certainly deserve scrutiny, yes, but pale in comparison to the systemic hemorrhaging of billions of pesos through fraudulent flood control schemes.
Where is the outrage in Congress about their own colleagues being linked to construction firms, some allegedly run by their spouses or siblings to mask their involvement? Where is the same energy being used to interrogate VP Duterte, now redirected to investigating this flood of corruption?
There is none. Silence has become complicity.
This is Debt—Not Free Money
What makes this more infuriating is that these massive infrastructure projects are funded largely through loans. These are not donations or foreign grants. These are debts that you and I—and our children—will have to pay back.
Imagine the insult: we borrow billions, only for half to be stolen before a single bag of cement is poured. Then when the floods come, the same politicians turn up for photo ops in rubber boots, pretending to care.
This is not just a case of corruption. This is economic sabotage, generational theft, and disaster profiteering of the worst kind.
A Budget Bicam Shrouded in Secrecy
Lacson also lifted the curtain on one of the most opaque processes in our democracy: the budget bicameral conference committee. He explained that this all-powerful body, responsible for finalizing the national budget, has no official records or transcripts. It’s a free-for-all where projects worth hundreds of billions can be inserted without scrutiny, feasibility studies, or coordination with agencies like the DPWH.
How is this even legal? How can a country that brags about its “democratic institutions” tolerate a budgeting process more secretive than backroom deals?
To cover up the pork, lawmakers now disguise their insertions as “itemized allocations,” even though these projects are still chosen based on political favors rather than public need. The Supreme Court may have declared pork barrel unconstitutional in 2013, but our legislators have simply become more creative in hiding it.
No Honor Among Thieves
The corruption has become so systematic that even the bidding process is rigged, according to Lacson. Contractors allegedly take turns winning bids, ensuring each of them gets a slice of the pie. Even those who “lose” still earn. It’s a cartel masquerading as public service.
This is the sickness at the heart of our government: legislators who legislate for profit, contractors who build to collapse, and a public left with debt, floods, and despair.
And still, no one is held accountable.
Will the President Back Words with Action?
If President Marcos Jr. is serious about rooting out corruption, then he must name names, file cases, and dismantle the pork-and-contractor mafia that has hijacked our Congress.
Start with the 67.
He must also support Senator Lacson’s call for an independent audit body composed of civil society, watchdog groups, and non-governmental organizations. The DPWH cannot investigate itself—it is part of the problem.
More importantly, he must call for legislation that brings transparency to the bicam process, require public access to budget discussions, and criminalize the insertion of ghost projects.
If the President fails to do this, then his words—no matter how impassioned—will remain hollow. Worse, they will become part of the deception: a theater of reform that masks a dictatorship of corruption.
A Nation Watching, A Government Hiding
The Filipino people are not stupid. We see what’s happening. We know who profits while we drown. We know who constructs broken projects and broken promises.
So to the 67, and the many others hiding in the shadows of privilege and impunity:
Mahiya naman kayo.
And to the President who uttered those words:
Don’t just say it. Do something.
Because if you cannot—or will not—fight the rot in front of you, then you, too, become part of the decay.
#CONGtractors #FloodOfCorruption #MarcosSONA2025 #MahiyaNamanKayo #WhoWillSaveUs