Arinola scandal to flood control project ‘ghosts’
3 days ago
2 min read
FILIPINOS never ran out of scandals and controversies.
From golden arinola (bedpan) scandal that nearly resulted in the impeachment of President Elpidio Quirino in the 1950s, to the flood control projects anomaly in 2025 that will most likely implicate and bring down several elected public officials, especially members of the House of RepresentaTHIEVES.
The degree of humiliation absorbed by Philippine public servants accused of irregularities and dishonesty is almost parallel in both scandals, but the amount involved is oceans apart.
In the golden arinolascandal, “only” P250 was involved, plus P5,000 for the arinolacomplementary bed.
The amount of P250 at that time could be around P250,000 today; P5,000 could be at least P500,000 today (this is only my own rough estimate).
But it was enough to send thunderbolts in Malacanang; in fact, it reportedly cost Quirino his reelection bid in 1953 when he was soundly defeated by the well-loved Defense Secretary Ramon Magsaysay in the presidential race.
Critics accused Quirino of allegedly owning a golden arinola (glossed as chamber pot or bedpan as it was used for urination and often kept under a bed).
It was Jose Custodio, a military historian, who narrated that the scandal had been brought up by journalist Armando J. Malay in The Manila Chronicle.
It was the golden arinola’s and bed’s extravagant cost for 1950s standards that reportedly raised concerns government funds may have been used to purchase the set.
Magsaysay (2,912,992 votes) of Nacionalista Party clobbered Quirino (1,313,991 votes) of Liberal Party in the 1953 presidential election.
The voters, however, elected Magsaysay because of his anti-insurgency and anti-communist campaign, not because of the arinola scandal.
The purported golden arinola was never found, and the bed’s actual cost was only reportedly ₱300.
Quirino’s reputation, however, had taken enough toll even as he also faced allegations of nepotism and misappropriation of funds to boot.
In the flood control project scandal, Mr. Marcos Jr. said P545 billion in public funds went to flood control projects nationwide since July 2022, citing the preliminary report of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The DPWH identified a total of 2,409 contractors for both local and national flood control projects.
“However, this is another disturbing assessment, statistic: 20 percent of the entire 545 billion budget napunta lang sa 15 na contractors. Sa 15 na contractor na ‘yan, lima sa kanila ay may kontrata sa buong Pilipinas,” said the Chief Executive.
President Marcos ordered the ongoing audit to investigate further why 20 percent of flood control projects went to only 15 contractors.
“That for me was the one that stood out very much. Five of these contractors had projects in almost the entire country. So those are the ones that immediately pop out na sa aking palagay ay kailangan natin tingnan,” said the President.
