Younger generation Filipinos keeping close watch over political corruption

By Allen Gaborro

Millions of Filipinos, enraged by the hubris displayed by those behind the 2025 flood project scandals, have been bandying about the words “change,” “reform,” “accountability,” and “justice.” Their collective fury is understandable of course. But they have been there before. 

Aside from the comparatively more minor cases of corruption that have routinely beset the Philippines, Filipinos had to endure the massive 2013 Pork Barrel fraud. It was hoped that that sordid episode, with all of its brazen perfidy and monumental scale, would and could not possibly happen again. This would turn out to be wishful thinking.

History is repeating itself with the onset of the 2025 Flood Project Scandal. Investigations have suggested that more than 500 billion pesos ($9.5 billion) was looted and misappropriated by a wide-ranging conspiracy consisting of contractors, government bureaucrats, and politicians.

In short, the conspiracy is made up of the familiar historical culprits that have been blamed for previous fiscal offenses: the monopolistic elites and their plundering cronies and allies. 

Therefore, it is hardly surprising that any real structural reform or pangs of conscience will not emanate from these repeat, neo-oligarchic offenders and their minions. An evolution in fighting corruption will have to come from the bottom up. This means, in a system that is virtually for the elites, by the elites, and of the elites, the Filipino people will have to be the movers and the shakers in bettering their country. 

After all, the ones with the greatest investment in the Philippines are the common folk what with their labor, sacrifice, patriotism, and love of humanity.

It is an inherently positive development that the younger generation of Filipinos, as Randy David stated in a recent column, “refuse to forget” compounded public malfeasance on a shocking level. This is compared to older generations of Filipinos who have gotten so jaded with all the corruption over the years that they have subconsciously normalized it.

These younger generations of Filipinos (the GenZs and the Millennial categories in particular) possess the greatest potential to be agents of change, far more so than their weary predecessors. From public corruption to political dynastic hegemony, these idealistic young adults understand that the failure to prosecute previous abusers of power enabled the recurrence of their high crimes. The rising, conscientious stars of youth will not allow the vicious cycle of surrender and apathy to continue to turn unabated. 

With the passage of time and experience, much of the Baby Boomer and Gen X generations of Filipinos have become too dismissive and disillusioned with the way things are done in the Philippines. This has put more of the spotlight on the GenZs and Millennials as the prime candidates for affecting genuine reform. 

Columnist Manuel Quezon III writes of the need in the Philippines for a “disruptor” force that would dramatically reshape the country’s sclerotic political and economic system. Quezon bases this argument on Silicon Valley’s high-performance-oriented “culture of accountability.” This is in contrast to the kleptocratic paradigm that has been a crippling center of toxic gravity in the Philippines. 

For Quezon, such a beneficial disruptor would be a constitutional convention. For others, it is the very Filipino youth I have mentioned here. The youth are on a mission to get the nation off the protracted road of infinite regression. They envision a future with constructive dialogue and good faith approaches to dealing with both systemic corruption and the bad actors it breeds.

But first things first: justice must be served to punish the wrongdoers. Failure to do so will lead to an array of damaging consequences which Filipinos should be all too aware of by now. Filipinos need to stay alert and engaged. 

It’s a fact of life that bad things happen to good people. But good things happen to those who don’t meekly accept their fate; they will actively pursue lofty goals like social transformation. As the day is long for Filipinos, the will to justice and change will be their destiny.