From ₱10 Billion to ₱31.6 Billion: When Napoles Was Just the Prologue

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Once upon a time, we thought Janet Lim-Napoles and her ₱10-billion pork barrel scam was the highest form of treachery ever inflicted upon the Filipino people. She became the symbol of how deep corruption could run in government, using fake NGOs and ghost projects to siphon billions from the people’s coffers.

But Napoles, it turns out, was only Act I.

Today, under President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Act II unfolds: the Discaya flood control empire. With ₱31.6 billion worth of government contracts tied to just one family, this scandal isn’t just bigger—it’s three times the size of Napoles’ plunder. And while the Discayas flaunt their luxury cars and palatial homes, ordinary Filipinos literally drown in floodwaters that those billions were supposedly meant to control.

Napoles: ₱10 Billion of Betrayal

During the Aquino administration, the Napoles PDAF scam shook the nation.

Billions meant for development were funneled into ghost beneficiaries and bogus NGOs. But for all its horror, there was accountability. Napoles was convicted of plunder and sentenced to reclusion perpetua. Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla, and Juan Ponce Enrile were indicted.

The Ombudsman investigated. The Commission on Audit (COA) scrutinized. The Sandiganbayan ruled.

Painful though it was, Napoles’ conviction proved that the system could still strike at the corrupt, no matter how powerful.

Discaya: ₱31.6 Billion, Flooding the Nation in Corruption

Fast forward to today. Reports show that nine companies linked to the Discaya family have cornered ₱31.6 billion in flood control projects since 2022.

That’s not pork—that’s the whole piggery.

Six percent of the nation’s flood control budget was funneled to a single family. And yet, every typhoon season, Filipino families remain submerged. Rivers supposedly “dredged” are still clogged. Ghost projects abound.

The insult? The Discayas flaunt their wealth in public while their kababayan wade chest-deep in water, their homes washed away by floods the billions were meant to prevent.

This isn’t governance. This is mockery.

The Law Is Clear

The law leaves no gray area.

The 1987 Constitution says: “Public office is a public trust.”

The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act punishes officials who grant unwarranted benefits.

The Plunder Law defines ill-gotten wealth of ₱50 million and above as plunder.

Napoles stole ₱10 billion. She was convicted.

Discaya’s haul? ₱31.6 billion. Three times bigger. And yet—no indictments, no arrests, no accountability.

If Napoles was plunder, Discaya is plunder on steroids.

Duterte’s Pharmally: The Blueprint for Impunity

The seeds of this impunity were sown during the Duterte years.

Pharmally Pharmaceutical, a tiny company with only ₱645,000 capitalization, bagged ₱11 billion in pandemic contracts. From overpriced face masks to expired test kits, billions vanished.

The Senate uncovered everything. But not a single Cabinet official was jailed. Duterte even barred his men from attending hearings. He shielded them.

That era taught the political elite a dangerous lesson: You can steal billions and still walk free.

Marcos Jr.’s Defining Test

Now the stage is set for Bongbong Marcos Jr.

Does he have the will to let the law strike at the Discayas? Will he direct the Ombudsman to investigate, the COA to blacklist, and the DPWH to clean house?

Or will he follow Duterte’s path—protecting plunderers, letting them laugh all the way to the bank while Filipinos drown like rats in their own homes?

This is Marcos Jr.’s litmus test. Fail it, and he cements his presidency not as reform, but as a continuation of impunity.

A Nation Drowning in Two Floods

We are drowning in water—and in corruption.

Napoles: ₱10 billion.

Pharmally: ₱11 billion.

Discaya: ₱31.6 billion.

Each scandal bigger, bolder, and more brazen. Each time, justice grows more elusive.

History’s Verdict

History has already spoken.

Napoles became the face of pork barrel plunder.

Duterte became the face of impunity.

Now, history waits for Bongbong Marcos Jr.

Will he rise to the challenge, proving he is not just another protector of thieves, by letting the law strike even the powerful? Or will he drown in history as the president who allowed ₱31.6 billion to vanish while his people drowned in floodwaters?

The choice is his. The nation is watching.

President Marcos, we dare you: punish the corrupt—or be remembered as the man who let the floodwaters of corruption wash away the future of the Filipino people.

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