Unsplash Photo by: (Wes Warren)
MANILA, PHILIPPINES [TAC] – The Philippines could have potentially lost as much as Php1.089 trillion (US$19.45 billion) of the government’s climate-tagged expenditures to corruption since 2023 according to Greenpeace Philippines last Friday.
In a press conference over Zoom, Greenpeace Philippines called out the obscene greed of government officials and contractors who have allegedly pocketed billions from anomalous flood control projects that are meant for climate adaptation including PHP560 billion (US$10 billion) in 2025 alone.
“A trillion pesos is a staggering, absurd amount, siphoned by avaricious, self-serving officials and contractor corporations from projects meant to help people cope with escalating climate impacts,” said Greenpeace campaigner Jefferson Chua.
“This is unacceptable. They’re not just plundering government coffers, they’re also crippling the ability of millions of Filipinos to survive in the face of an escalating climate crisis. Theft of climate funds at such a scale is atrocious, and offenders are akin to climate criminals,” Chua added.
Data from the National Integrated Climate Change Database and Information Exchange System shows that in 2025, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) holds the lion’s share of the climate-tagged projects: PHP800 billion of the PHP1 trillion of climate-tagged projects fell under its purview, comprising 90%, or 24,764 out of 26,874 climate-tagged projects.
Greenpeace says that corruption and greed are undermining the ability of Filipinos to cope with climate change. Each year, many Filipinos lose lives, homes and livelihoods due to more frequent and more intense flooding. The flood control projects are meant to protect communities, but the ongoing investigations show that astronomical amounts for these climate adaptation efforts are going to the pockets of greedy government officials and private contractors.
Meanwhile, the Philippine government doesn’t have enough money to fund its climate adaptation needs or to cover the costs of climate losses and damages. The Department of Finance says that costs in losses and damages in the Philippines from 2010 to 2020 amounted to PHP506.1 billion.
The government also says that from 2015 to 2022, it spent almost PHP2 trillion for disaster risk reduction and management. Money to fund adaptation, however, still falls short of what’s needed.
A 2022 World Bank report projected that the Philippines can lose as much as 7.6% of GDP by 2030 and 13.6% by 2040 due to climate change.3
“The corruption scandal puts Filipinos in a hopeless situation: not only is our climate financing woefully inadequate to avoid future losses, but also, more than half of what little allocation we have for climate action is potentially being stolen. Filipinos are left with pitiful change from the billions stolen by a few,” said Chua.
Chua elaborated that the government is applying for loans and grants to address losses and damages from climate disasters.
“Given this filthy track record, what assurance does the Filipino people have that the money for climate adaptation won’t end up in the pockets of the greedy?” he said. “Each new loan pushes us deeper into debt, while corruption drains the borrowed money that’s meant to protect us.”
“The government must not be deaf to the outrage of Filipinos and must heed the call to exact accountability both from corrupt officials and contractors,” Chua said.
Greenpeace is calling on the Philippine government to ensure accountability from corrupt government officials and contractors; end corruption and put in place measures to ensure transparency in government; create systems for greater people participation and ensure public access to government information; and put in place mechanisms to safeguard climate funds from corruption.
Greenpeace noted that the gargantuan budget for climate tagged-projects under the purview of the DPWH shows the government’s shortsighted overreliance on gray infrastructure for climate adaptation. The group says that the government must instead put its focus on implementing nature-based and community-led solutions, preserving watersheds, stopping mining and quarrying projects that destroy forests and rivers, putting an end to reclamation, and instituting a national ban on single use plastics such as sachets to ease flood problems in major urban areas.
Meanwhile, the activist fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA) wants the flood control projects in Cavite investigated, amid the devastating impacts of the recent typhoons and southwest monsoon in the province.
In a statement, the fishers’ group said that despite the 184 existing flood control projects in Cavite, the province still suffers from severe flooding was placed under a state of calamity last July.
According to PAMALAKAYA, the series of typhoons and heavy rains from July to August submerged at least nine towns and municipalities in Cavite province, especially its coastal areas. In Bacoor City, 43 of 47 barangays were flooded. Most of the affected were from the province’s nine coastal communities, the fishers’ group added.
“The storms that passed were indeed strong, but severe flooding could have been avoided if the flood-control projects in the province of Cavite were properly utilized. It’s clear these projects are defective due to the damage the storms caused to homes, agriculture, and fisheries,” said PAMALAKAYA National Chair Fernando Hicap.“The companies, government officials, and local governments involved in the construction of the defective flood control projects should be investigated,” Hicap said while adding that “contractors involved in the failed flood control projects should be held accountable, as well as the government and local officials who approved them using public funds.
