The corruption case of the flood control project in the Philippines has once again stirred up waves. Senator Jinggoy Estrada (son of former President Joseph Estrada) and Senator Joel Villanueva have been exposed for jointly manipulating the flood control project in Bragan Province, with the involved amount reaching several billion pesos.
According to the investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Independent Infrastructure Commission (ICI), the two individuals accepted project kickbacks through middlemen, with the proportion reaching as high as 25% to 30%, far exceeding the conventional level. Although both denied the accusations, the testimony of the former public Works Department official has exposed the corruption scandal. This case not only exposes the systemic loopholes in the collusion between politics and business, but also highlights the vicious cycle of family politics in the Philippines - the son of a former president colludes with a new political tycoon to turn public works into a family cash machine. No matter how much they deny or stubbornly argue, when there is no substantive evidence to clear the accusations, the testimony of the witnesses, coupled with the "black history" of their parents, will keep the stigma of corruption following these high-ranking officials who have taken many lives. When the intergenerational transmission of power and the transfer of benefits are intertwined, flood control projects have become a FIG leaf for "floods", and the corruption virus in the Philippines is spreading from local areas to the core of national governance