Public outrage over flood control mess exposes PHL to propaganda, says navy

By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter

PUBLIC OUTRAGE over large-scale corruption in flood control projects could leave the Philippines vulnerable to foreign-backed propaganda seeking to provoke unrest and destabilize the country, a Philippine Navy official said on Tuesday.

It remains unclear whether China is behind efforts to spread disinformation to agitate and stir up turmoil, but the Philippine military has observed propaganda waged by some groups encouraging retired officers to destabilize its ranks, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent T. Trinidad, Philippine Navy spokesman for the South China Sea said.

He did not name those behind the campaign, saying he is awaiting “developments from the legal side.”

“When you erode social cohesion… as a group, you make it easier for foreign influence to come in,” Mr. Trinidad told reporters on the sidelines of a media briefing at the Philippine military headquarters.

The Philippines has been rocked by a flood control scandal involving hundreds of billions of pesos, and has so far implicated politicians, engineering officials and contractors as having ties to anomalous infrastructure deals.

Reports of a possible military coup against President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. last month circulated on social media as thousands of Filipinos took to the streets in the biggest protest in years over the multibillion-peso flood control scandal.

“There was an attempt to sow disinformation, to twist the truth, to use malign influence in order to agitate some of our military retirees, eventually to organize them and even mobilize them against the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” Mr. Trinidad said.

Disinformation thrives and is often turbocharged during times of crisis as people try to make sense of unfolding events and find ways to express their emotions, said Karl Patrick R. Mendoza, associate professor at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines’ Department of Communication Research.

“When emotions run high, people don’t just process information — they feel it,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “In moments of crisis or scandal, like this multibillion flood control controversy, the public seeks moral coherence and someone to trust.”

“It’s not that the public is irrational; it’s that emotions and belonging shape how truth is received, especially when faith in institutions has already eroded,” he added.

Mr. Trinidad said that disinformation “is the same tool being used by the Chinese Communist Party in the West Philippine Sea,” referring to parts of the South China Sea within Manila’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.

China has said it does not meddle in the internal affairs of other countries.

Beijing claims nearly all of the South China Sea via a 1940s nine-dash line map that overlaps with the exclusive waters of the Philippines and neighbors like Vietnam and Malaysia despite a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that voided its claims.

The government must invest in information and communications technologies to strengthen digital systems and help Filipinos become more digitally literate, said Chester B. Cabalza, founding president of Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation.

“Disinformation because of ignorance welcomes… the infiltration of sleeper cells due to weak information technology and AI literacy,” he said in a Facebook chat.

In April, former Senator Francis N. Tolentino said that a local marketing firm was allegedly involved in spreading pro-Beijing narratives ahead of the May midterm elections, presenting documents that China hired it to provide “keyboard warriors” to influence public opinion.

‘CLEAN THE RANKS’
Meanwhile, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Tuesday reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to purge corruption and restore integrity in public service, saying institutional reform remains central to rebuilding public trust in government.

Speaking at the awarding of the 2025 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos in Malacañang, Mr. Marcos said the government is determined to “clean the ranks” of the bureaucracy to ensure that every official and civil servant is deserving of the people’s confidence.

“We will continue cleansing the ranks of government to ensure that every official and public servant is worthy of the trust given to them by the people,” he said in Filipino, as his administration continues a probe into alleged corruption in flood control projects.

The President acknowledged that recent controversies have tested the public’s faith in institutions but said reform efforts would continue despite political and bureaucratic challenges.

“It will be hard and sometimes it will be painful, but it will be worth it because what we are fighting for is a country that our children will inherit,” he said.

The Philippines’ flood control scandal involves allegations of ghost projects, inflated contracts, and substandard infrastructure in projects worth billions of pesos, implicating public officials and contractors in widespread corruption.

The Marcos administration has launched multiple investigations and vowed to reform the bureaucracy to restore public trust in government institutions.

Mr. Marcos pointed to the ten Metrobank Foundation honorees — composed of four teachers, three soldiers, and three police officers — as proof that “integrity still lives in our institutions.”

He described them as models of public service who embody the Bagong Pilipinas vision of governance built on honor and accountability.

As the awards program marks its 40th year, he praised the Metrobank Foundation and its partners — PSBank and the Rotary Clubs of New Manila East and Makati Metro — for continuing to “serve as a beacon of integrity and inspiration” in recognizing exemplary Filipinos. — with Chloe Mari A. Hufana