Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, former Special Adviser of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), revealed his findings on alleged systemic corruption in government during a Senate hearing on Thursday, October 2.
Speaking before the Senate Committees on Science and Technology and Finance, Magalong responded to Senator Bam Aquino’s request for him to share what he discovered during his two-week probe on corruption while serving in the ICI.
According to Magalong, he uncovered three main groups of corrupt actors within government.
“I had a very brief stay in the ICI, Mr. Chair. One thing that I have found out, there’re actually three players — corrupt politicians, corrupt bureaucrats, corrupt DPWH officials, and corrupt contractors,” Magalong said.
He added bluntly: “Lahat sila, korap (They’re all corrupt)!”
Magalong described the system as having evolved into a “cottage industry” or even a “livelihood program,” given the massive amounts of money involved.
“The way I see it, it just became a cottage industry, a livelihood program because of the huge sums of money. There should be five major players — the funder (usually lawmakers), the DPWH, contractors, local governments, and the community,” he explained.
“But two of them have been eased out. Now it’s just them talking among themselves,” he added.
He also cited the lack of transparency among agencies when confronted about questionable records.
“Most of the time, when we asked them, ‘Why are you not transparent with the records?’ their answer was always, ‘What if they alter it? What if they use it against us on social media?’” Magalong recounted.
“This is the reason why I have been pushing for stronger transparency and accountability mechanisms,” he stressed.
Magalong resigned from his ICI post on September 26.