Philippines flood control scam: Pandora’s Box opened — but can the $9.6 billion be recovered?

Manila: "Tongpats" — loosely translated as kickbacks — has cemented itself not just in the Tagalog lexicon but, more tellingly, in the everyday blueprint of Philippine engineering practice.

The term, a play on the Tagalog word "patong" (mark-up), now forms part of an on-going probe into ghost or subpar flood-control projects in the Asian country.

The visuals that have emerged are damning: Wads of cash, apparently grease money, that have found their way to the office of district engineers, all the way to "higher ups".

Parallel probes are being conducted by both the Philippine Senate and the House of Representatives, where visuals include rooms full of cash, and people surrounding the cashflow.

Tuesday (September 9) turned into political fireworks day as both the Senate and House rolled out hearings that felt more like a primetime drama.

With every testimony, new bombshells dropped — ex-government engineers and private contractors laid bare a tangle of kickbacks and backroom deals.

Filipinos watching from the sidelines were left wide-eyed, gasping at the scale of conspiracy to milk public projects dry.

The picture that has emerged so far, as reported by local media, is not pretty.

Ex-DPWH district engineer Engr. Brice Ericson Hernandez told the hearing that two Senators form part of the "tongpats" web in flood control projects.

Translation: Hernandez cited Senator Jinggoy Estrada as having received ₱355 million ($6.23 million) in projects; he claimed that another Filipino Senator, Joel Villanueva, received ₱600 million ($10.5 million) worth of projects.

The "SOP" ("standard operating procedure"), a.k.a. Tongpats" of the senators was 30%, claimed Hernandez.

Both senators issued strongly-worded statements denying Hernandez's accusations.

But Hernandez has exposed Engr. Henry Alcantara, also an ex-District Engineer who recently got sacked, when the latter denied his connection with Senator Jinggoy Estrada.

Hernandez testified that Estrada and Alcantara do know each other as the latter was invited to the senator’s birthday celebrations in a casino.

Now, the presidential palace, has announced the creation of an independent body to investigate the damning allegations.

The probe Monday (September 8) already heard the explosive testimony from Pacifico “Curlee” II and his wife Sarah Discaya, a wealthy business couple dubbed the “King and Queen of Flood Control.”

The 24-member Senate, the upper legislative chamber, which has conducted the livestream hearings has itself been rocked by the investigations, leading to the ouster of Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero from the Senate presidency.

The investigations continue to unravel the depth of corruption, with potential legal consequences for those implicated.

After a flood of testimonies dragged big names in both the House and Senate into the muddy waters of infrastructure corruption, one burning question hangs in the air: Will this end in self-cleaning, self-snitching, or just the same old circus?

For Filipinos, the moment feels less like politics and more like a cliffhanger — decision time is here.