Two crime syndicates control the Philippines

The Philippines today is in the grip, in the stranglehold, of the two most powerful crime syndicates that ever surfaced on this benighted land – the flood control (FC) crime syndicate and the Duterte crime syndicate.

Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is battling both syndicates in the largest anti-corruption campaign ever launched by any sitting president against entrenched politically powerful criminality in the Philippines, and probably in Southeast Asia. Battling political and economic super typhoons, BBM is reaping the whirlwind. His credibility is at stake. Rumors of a coup keep surfacing. Adding headwinds is the Iran war with its impact on fuel, food and fertilizer amid the worst oil supply disruption ever.

With the depredation of the two criminal syndicates, the Philippines has drawn opprobrium as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, a nation almost beyond redemption morally, its people in their deepest public disapproval of its officials in half a century and its political stability constantly in question.

FC, the first syndicate, is powerful, politically and economically. It is led by leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives, with equally powerful cohorts in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and with among the most corrupt of contractors as epitomized by the Discaya couple.

In the Senate, the syndicate has been led by ousted Senate president Chiz Escudero. The ombudsman is building cases against him for plunder, graft and indirect bribery. Chiz has been barred from traveling abroad.

In the House, the syndicate has been led by ousted speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, with former Ako Bicol party-list congressman Zaldy Co as his chief operating officer during the Bicolano’s time as chair of the powerful House appropriations committee.

The FC cabal is rapacious, exceedingly greedy and covetous of anything that has the color of money – tax money, your money, our money, the people’s money. In the last 10 years, the flood control syndicate has stolen not less than P1.7 trillion. Of that, over P1 trillion was stolen in the last three years alone – 2023, 2024 and 2025, nearly 60 percent of the total. This is the largest looting of people’s money in the history of this country.

This makes our Congress the biggest criminal syndicate. If you count in monies from Cabinet departments other than the DPWH, the loot by our FC syndicate of duly elected people’s representatives easily exceeds P1 trillion a year.

Not to be outdone is the Duterte criminal syndicate. It is led by former president Rodrigo Duterte, 81, and his children, notably Sara Zimmerman Duterte, 47, his daughter and the Vice President.

The Duterte syndicate is not only rapacious for money. It is murderous. It has drugs. Accused of murdering between 6,200 and 30,000, Tatay Digong was arrested on March 11, 2025 and brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on March 12, 2025 at The Hague where he has been in jail ever since.

Tatay Digong was the father of the nation, as president from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2022, and godfather of Davao as its mayor for seven terms totaling 22 years – 1988-1998, 2001-2010 and 2013-2016, the years of the Davao Death Squad.

Tatay Digong faces charges of crime against humanity on three counts – 1) the murder of 19 victims in Davao City from 2013 to June 2016, when he was mayor; 2) the murder of 14 high value targets across the Philippines from July 2016 to July 2017 when he was the president and 3) the murder of 45 victims during barangay clearing operations nationwide in July 2016-September 2018 when he was president, plus the attempted murder of two other victims. That’s a total of 78 killed – 19, when Duterte was mayor and 59 when he was president. At the ICC, to prove you killed 30,000, the prosecution needs only to prove you killed 78.

Sara Duterte is a “secondary” respondent in the ICC investigation into DDS’s crimes. Separately, the VP is facing multiple impeachment complaints and criminal charges filed by the House of Representatives and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), largely stemming from her alleged misuse of public funds and threats to kill the President, the First Lady and the former speaker Martin.

As a politician, Sara is also accused of having been funded by drug lords, illegal gambling and other crime syndicates. She has unexplained wealth, a red flag for corruption, with at least P6.77 billion transacted in her bank accounts between 2006 and 2025. Of the P6.77 billion, P4.4 billion flowed in and P1.55 billion flowed out, a net inflow of P2.85 billion.

On April 29, 2026, the House of Representatives committee on justice voted 53-0 that there is probable cause to impeach Sara Duterte. The House in plenary needs 106 votes to bring her case to a full trial before the Senate Impeachment Court. A Senate conviction, by 16 of 24 senators, will remove Sara as VP – never to be allowed to hold public office again. She cannot run for president in 2028, even if she leads poll surveys.

Meanwhile, Romualdez is facing plunder and money laundering charges. His billions in bank accounts have been frozen, along with his mansions and luxury cars. He does not even have spare change to pay for his electricity and telephone bills, nor can he sell properties to raise cash for his lawyers.

Now a hate figure, Zaldy Co has sought asylum in France, alleging political persecution. He has two Philippine passports, both either expired or cancelled. He is supposed to have a permanent resident visa in Portugal.

Manila has sought an Interpol “Red Notice” against Co which, if approved, makes him a fugitive subject to provisional arrest anytime, anywhere by Interpol police agents for extradition or surrender to Philippine authorities. Co has at least three arrest warrants issued in November 2025 by the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan in connection with a P289-million substandard road dike project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

Sara, Martin and Zaldy vow revenge.

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