When the Floods Come, the Politicians Squabble

By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — September 1, 2025

FEW spectacles are as obscene as watching the Philippines drown—not just in floodwater, but in political hypocrisy. Every rainy season, children paddle through sewage in plastic tubs, while the country’s elites paddle through pork.

This week’s zarzuela was particularly rich. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., heir to a kleptocratic dynasty, declared he was “open” to the Dutertes’ “sensible” flood control advice. That’s like an arsonist asking another arsonist for tips on fire safety. His spokesperson Claire Castro wagged a finger at Baste Duterte for criticizing without offering solutions. But she also demanded the Dutertes explain the 13,917 flood projects they supposedly built. That number is so absurd I half-expect they included Noah’s Ark.

Baste, in turn, countered that Marcos is all talk, no concrete. Which is true—except the Dutertes, when in power, poured more ghost concrete than any Ouija board ever summoned.

The Marcos-Castro Gambit: Audits as Opera

Marcos loves an audit. It makes him look busy, righteous, and furious. He gets to channel the anger of the public—without actually fixing anything. But let’s not confuse moral theater with moral courage. He approved billions in dodgy projects himself, funneled contracts to his cronies, and now asks us to believe he’s shocked—shocked!—to find corruption in the flood control budget.

It’s Casablanca on the Pasig River: the man yelling “Round up the usual suspects!” while drinking with them after hours.

The Duterte Playbook: Ghosts in the Machine

The Dutertes strike a pose as infrastructure champions, plastering the country with ribbon-cuttings and bulldozers. But when challenged to show results, they vanish like their ghost projects. Rodrigo Duterte’s administration supposedly built 13,917 flood control works. If that were true, the Philippines should be Venice by now—with gondolas gliding along pristine canals. Instead, Davao still drowns and Manila still chokes.

And their response? Don’t ask us about the past, look at Marcos now! Which is like a burglar telling police: “Sure, I stole last week, but have you checked what your neighbor is doing?”

A Flood of False Solutions

Audits here, accusations there—this is not governance. This is a cockfight staged on a sandbag wall. What’s missing? Actual drainage systems that work. Transparent project portals. Engineers and hydrologists empowered over political dynasties. Prosecutors with handcuffs instead of politicians with microphones.

Marcos’ “open to advice” line is political tai chi—he deflects attacks by pretending to absorb them. The Dutertes’ counterattacks are political karaoke—loud, off-key, and always on repeat. Neither drains a flooded barangay.

What If Marcos Took Duterte Advice?

Best case, we get a photo-op of unity: Marcos and the Dutertes smiling in rubber boots, pointing at a sandbag wall. Worst case, Marcos validates the Duterte narrative that only they can build. Most likely, nothing changes. Floods remain biblical, politics remains medieval.

The Human Toll: Coffins in Place of Dikes

Every “ghost project” is a real coffin. Every peso stolen from flood control is a child drowned in a swollen creek, a farmer bankrupted, a family displaced. These dynasties argue over who wasted billions while the poor die in waist-deep water. It’s not flood control, it’s population control—just not the kind anyone will admit.

A Plea Beyond Pork and Pride

The Philippines doesn’t need another round of “I’m angrier than you” politics. It needs:

Radical transparency: an online portal, GPS maps, photos, costs. No data, no budget.
Technical leadership: let engineers, not heirs, design the system.
Real accountability: contractors and politicians in jail, not in press conferences.

The real floods are natural; the drowning is man-made. Until the Philippines treats corruption as a greater disaster than typhoons, it will keep burying coffins under concrete that was never poured.

For now, the country waits for the next storm. And when the rain comes, ordinary Filipinos will be bailing out their homes while Marcos and Duterte bail out their reputations.