I stand with Senator JV Ejercito in calling out what must be named without hesitation: KLEPTOSPIROSIS—a systemic, shameless theft of public funds disguised as flood control.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has now admitted the existence of ghost projects—billions allocated, nothing built. From 2022 to 2025, Wawao Builders Inc. secured 85 flood control contracts worth ₱9 billion nationwide, with ₱5.9 billion concentrated in Bulacan alone !
These are not mere accounting errors. These are engineered absences. And the silence of oversight bodies—COA, the Ombudsman, and others—is deafening.
This is not just corruption. It is collusion. A betrayal involving contractors, DPWH officials, and some members of Congress. The refusal of Wawao Builders to appear before the Senate inquiry is a slap in the face of every Filipino taxpayer.
Senator JV’s voice is one of the few cutting through the fog. His term kleptospirosis captures the rot—an infection spreading through our institutions, unchecked by the very bodies meant to protect us.
We need more than hearings. We need accountability. Transparency. Integrity. We need a government that does not merely investigate after the fact, but prevents such atrocities from happening in the first place.
Let this be a turning point. Let those who stole from the people be named, charged, and barred from ever touching public funds again.
Let the agencies tasked with oversight remember their mandate: to serve the people, not shield the powerful.
We are drenched—not just by floods, but by betrayal. And we must rise. DR TONY LEACHON