The disaster-prone Philippines invested billions in flood control. Then officials looted the funds

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Torrential downpours and deadly flooding in the tropical, disaster-prone Philippines are not new. But revelations in recent months that politicians, officials and contractors had looted billions of dollars from the nationwide program supposed to mitigate their effects have roiled the country

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The flooding in November prompted Cebu's governor Pamela Baricuatro to demand an investigation into the 26 billion pesos ($443 million) in flood-control projects in the province which officials in Manila admitted "should have been working" by the time disaster struck.

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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. later visited the region and promised to clear and clean the waterways, and de-clog drainage systems, in time for rainy season next year.

The previous July he had revealed a government flood control program worth more than 545 billion pesos ($9.2 billion) had been plagued by corruption.

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