Everywhere you go in the Philippines, especially in schools and town halls, there is likely to be a statue of Dr. José Rizal, the country’s national hero. He strongly opposed Spain’s oppressive colonial rule in his time. He believed that a good government should be moral, transparent and merit-based, existing to educate, protect and empower its citizens under a strong rule of law with their consent. He asserted that bad governments existed only because people allowed them to. In his view, citizens must actively participate in holding their leaders accountable rather than tolerating corruption. During his time, powerful landowning families aligned themselves with the Spanish colonial government and formed a wealthy and privileged class.
When the United States took the Philippines by force in 1898, it ignored what its assassinated president, Abraham Lincoln, once said — “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” — and the colonial regime it formed failed to provide a truly democratic government after granting independence to the country in July 1946. The American colonial administrators may have set up a constitutional republic, but they institutionalized the power of landowning families by granting them control of local government offices, legislative seats and commercial interests. This effectively created a government ruled by an oligarchy in which corruption was — and is — the norm, and political power became the vehicle for self-enrichment and the building of private business empires supported by cronies in government, mostly lawmakers. That is what we have today.
This system of self-enrichment by politicians and their families at the expense of ordinary people is apparent in the current breakdown of wealth. The top 10 percent of the country’s population of 117.72 million holds roughly P40 trillion, controlling nearly 73 percent of the nation’s total net worth, while the bottom 90 percent shares the remaining P15 trillion. The dynastic political families make up the top 1 percent — roughly 1.17 million individuals — and hold P17.9 trillion, which is three times more than the combined net worth of the bottom 50 percent of the entire population. The Philippines is home to 12,800 U.S.-dollar millionaires and 15 U.S.-dollar billionaires.
Scams
How they accumulated such wealth can be seen in the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, the flood-control corruption probes, and many other scams. One of these is the so-called Pharmally scandal, in which billions of pesos in state supply contracts were awarded to a tiny company — a suspected front for corrupt politicians — to purchase grossly overpriced medical supplies for the government during the COVID-19 pandemic. Another is the PhilHealth fund mismanagement scandal, which investigators exposed as a P15-billion syndication scam within the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. in 2020. Bureau of Customs officials were accused in 2022 of allowing the large-scale smuggling of agricultural goods, electronic items and narcotics, most notably in 2017, when an estimated P11 billion worth of crystal meth concealed in magnetic lifters was allegedly allowed to pass through Customs. In 2022 and 2023, the sugar importation scam was exposed after sugar authorities were accused of fabricating market scarcity to benefit preselected favored traders and allowing 300,000 metric tons of sugar to be imported, to the detriment of local production. These and many more scandals have placed the Philippines among the world’s most corrupt nations.
Many Filipinos are poor and hungry because of the greed and corruption of the ruling class. They are bringing the nation down and are despised for their corruption. They think of themselves as privileged. Their greed has made the Philippines the third most corrupt country in Southeast Asia, receiving a score of 32 out of 100 in one report. Asia-wide, the Philippines ranked 18th out of 45 countries on the corruption scale. More disappointingly, the Philippines fell six places to No. 120 in the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index released by Transparency International, scoring 32 out of 100, below the global average of 42.
The current political scene is dominated by a powerful battle between the Philippines’ two most powerful political dynasties, the Marcoses and the Dutertes, whose 2022 electoral alliance has completely fallen apart. Former President Rodrigo Duterte is now in detention at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, awaiting trial for alleged crimes against humanity. The allegations facing members of the ruling elite today involve plunder related to the flood-control scam. Between 2016 and 2025, an estimated P42 billion to P118 billion disappeared into the pockets of corrupt politicians and their business cronies.
Challenging the system
Despite the corruption, courageous Filipinos are constantly challenging the system. This offers hope and encouragement to millions of good-hearted Filipinos who detest corruption and malfeasance in government. On June 28, an interfaith gathering of religious leaders, civil rights organizations and ordinary citizens launched the White Ribbon March from the EDSA Shrine to the People Power Monument. This coalition protested corruption and continues to demand strict judicial accountability, the return of plundered taxpayer funds, and an end to selective justice.
The political opposition is also active and has formed a coalition of progressive political parties in the House of Representatives. All have taken a firm stand against pervasive corruption. These progressive lawmakers, including the Makabayan bloc, were active in filing the initial impeachment complaints against the vice president.
There are also many civil society groups demanding accountability, including Tindig Pilipinas, Akbayan and Mamamayang Liberal. They are actively organizing protests and filing petitions to ensure state accountability. The progressive media is also active in denouncing corruption.
The Catholic Church was once a powerful institutional voice and influence in guiding the nation along a moral path toward social justice and accountability. Today, it is a much weaker institution. However, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines in May urged the Senate to promptly and impartially convene as an impeachment court. Reeling from revelations and court cases involving clerical child sexual abuse, most bishops and clergy avoid social issues and focus on promoting attendance at Mass, receiving the sacraments, holding processions and busying themselves with church decoration. Social justice issues and the preferential option for the poor have diminished in importance, it seems.
Despite these official statements and the Church’s limited institutional involvement in the fight for justice and the poor, the boldest and most direct indictments of government corruption usually come from individual bishops and specialized Church commissions. Among the most outspoken is Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan. He condemned corruption as a “grave sin of theft and a betrayal of the people,” noting that stealing public funds directly robs the poor of essential health, education and welfare services. He is supported by Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos, a prominent advocate for structural reform who has urged Congress to pass a comprehensive anti-political dynasty law. Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David and other bishops also support efforts to counter systemic graft. With these growing forces and the ongoing investigations, there is hope of stopping the plunder and advancing social justice.
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LiCAS News was granted permission to republish and adapt this article by Father Shay Cullen in the spirit of truth-telling and the pursuit of justice.
Irish missionary Father Shay Cullen, SSC, founded the Preda Foundation in Olongapo City in 1974 to promote human rights and the rights of children, especially victims of sexual abuse.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of LiCAS News.
