Ensuring transparency in the budget process at the barangay level and exercising vigilance during the implementation stage will help the country to get rid of corruption, House of Representatives Speaker Faustino ‘Bojie’ Dy III said on Tuesday.
Dy, in his speech at the Liga ng mga Barangay Congress at the World Trade Center, told local government officials including those from the barangay that they play an important role in pushing for transparency and accountability, as they can check if deadlines and standards are met when projects are implemented.
According to Dy, barangay officials can help in the fight against corruption if they can identify what are the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) projects in their area – and eventually check if these are up to par.
‘The most important thing here is that no matter how much we get strict and ensure transparency and accountability on our proposed budget, is when these proposed projects get into the implementation stage in our respective areas,’ Dy said in Filipino.
‘That is why your roles and duties will be so important. I am asking you to identify the projects of the Department of Public Works [and Highways] for every district, what are the projects or programs that would arrive for your areas, especially the barangay under your jurisdiction,’ he added.
According to Dy, based on experience at the local government level, vigilance once the national budget is approved will be key to pushing for growth and avoiding losing public funds to corruption.
‘If you do this, you will be able to monitor your projects. And because of this, you can see if the projects are up to the right standards. Know from your districts, from the DPWH, what the program of works is for the projects set aside for your areas,’ he said speaking in Filipino.
‘You will play a great role in removing, stopping, and defeating corruption here in our country,’ he added.
Corruption scandals in the country, particularly regarding the flood control project, has led to calls for greater budget transparency.
For the deliberations of the proposed 2026 national budget, several reforms were initiated by the House – from moves to allow civil society organizations to monitor and participate in discussions, to the removal of the small committee that implements changes in the General Appropriations Bill even after it has been approved on third reading.
Several public officials and companies, however, were also placed at the hot seat due to corruption allegations. In his fourth State of the Nation Address last July 2025, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned government officials and contractors who allegedly benefitted from flood control projects at the expense of the people.
Eventually, Marcos inspected several projects which were then revealed to be either substandard or completely non-existent. Investigations from different bodies – including Congress – followed suit, but several lawmakers were implicated as either having interests in the companies that do flood control projects, or were accused of diverting funds for such purposes.
The flood control scandal eventually reached Congress’ leadership: last September 8, former Senate president Francis Escudero was replaced by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, after after Escudero was criticized for receiving a P30 million campaign donation in 2022 from a contractor whose firm was able to bag a lot of government infrastructure projects.
In the House, Dy was elected Speaker after former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez relinquished the post on September 17, to allow an independent commission to probe his alleged involvement in flood control issues.
Romualdez has not been connected to any of the top companies doing the flood control projects, but he was one of the lawmakers named by contractor-couple Pacifico ‘Curlee’ Discaya and Cezarah ‘Sarah’ Discaya of allegedly receiving kickbacks from the projects. With reports from Halle Danelle Yuson, trainee