Want to know the flood control projects in your area that were reported in 'Sumbong sa Pangulo'? Here's how
The Philippines has been in turmoil for weeks now amid corruption allegations in line with the government's flood control projects, leading to investigations into a number of DPWH officials and contractors.
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. called out those who were involved in "ghost" projects worth billions of pesos in his fourth State of the Nation Address and later launched the "Sumbong sa Pangulo" website, making data on flood control initiatives available to the public.
Since July, more than 9,000 entries have been lodged on the website that includes each project's location, contractor, and budget allocation.
Want to take a deep dive into the flood control projects in your area in particular, but don't know where to start?
Thankfully, AI could help you navigate and analyze the vast amount of information on the platform.
Jaemark Tordecilla, media adviser on AI and PumaPodcast editor-at-large, shared that he managed to streamline the data from the website into one spreadsheet. This makes things a little bit easier as you can run it through ChatGPT, Gemini, or other artificial intelligence tools to sort out the information for you.
You can ask questions such as which contractor has the most projects per region or ask it to rank the provinces with the most number of flood control projects, and include how much each one cost.
Keep in mind that the data you'll get may still have some errors, so it's still best to double-check everything to ensure accuracy in the process.
If you want to further look into specific firms with flood control deals, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism has published a list containing records of the flood control contractors.
You can access their Articles of Incorporation, which is a document filed with a state to create a corporation, and their General Information Sheet, which includes the company's address, stockholders, among others.
While PCIJ is still in the process of uploading more documents, some of the contractors included in the list are Alpha & Omega Gen. Contractor & Development Corp., Centerways Construction and Development Inc., and Wawao Builders.
Massive flooding in July
The issue in the government's flood control projects began in July as the rains triggered massive flooding in the metro.
Economist JC Punongbayan, in a Facebook post, questioned why flooding persists despite having billions of pesos in flood control allocations over the years.
Using data from the Department of Budget and Management, he shared a graph showing the steadily increasing flood control allocations: P141.6 billion in 2021, P209.9 billion in 2022, P282.5 billion in 2023, and P351.3 billion in 2024. This year’s allocation stands at P349.4 billion and, despite being less than the previous year’s allocation, Punongbayan noted it’s still roughly a third of the national infrastructure budget.
“Bakit grabe pa rin ang baha?” he asked. “Bakit parang hindi ramdam ang pagbuhos ng budget sa flood control systems?”
At the time, Sen. Ping Lacson told dzBB that since 2011, about P1 trillion allocated for flood control projects may have been lost to corruption.
Adding to the national attention and outrage over the anomalies was how internet users noticed several children of politicians and contractors, branding them as "nepo babies," who flex their designer clothing and fly to different countries in seemingly unapologetic fashion—and even vlogging about their comforts.
The matter has become so alarming that many celebrities and personalities have decided to speak up.