WARNING: This article may cause you hypertension and induce anger that may make you scream.
Out of curiosity, this article plays with figures to creatively illustrate what we have lost to corruption, in terms of value to the Filipino people. What if this amount is spent elsewhere instead of corruption?
Driven by the “Trillion Pesos” themed rallies, this article aligns with that figure.
The weight of a trillion
If one banknote weighs 1 gram, a standard bundle of 100 one-thousand-peso bills (P100,000) will weigh 100 grams. A million will then be 1 kilogram (kg) — easily fits in a bag!
But a billion? That will be 1,000 kg, or 1 metric ton of one-thousand-peso bills! That’s equivalent to the weight of 20 sacks (50 kg per sack) of rice! It will not fit in the bag anymore. You will need a forklift for that.
But a trillion? That weight is equivalent to 20,000 sacks of rice.
Spending a trillion
If you spend a billion pesos a year, it gives you a budget of P2.7 million per day, or a budget of P114,155 per hour, or P2,000 per minute.
Now, a trillion? You have to spend P2.7 billion per day, or P112.5 million per hour, or P1.8 million per minute.
What kind of greed would a person wish to have so much to spend?
How minimum wage earners earn
The minimum wage of P695 gives a worker P18,070 monthly income, or an annual income of P216,840 only. It will take a minimum wage earner a period of four years and seven months to register a million-peso income based on a 26-day work week.
For the entire lifetime work of a minimum wage earner — using these plain figures without financial variables over time — the 40 years of work will only generate P8.7 million. A billion pesos is therefore earned by 115 minimum earning Filipinos in their entire lifetime work career. A trillion is therefore earned by 114,942 minimum-earning Filipinos over their entire work life.
Taxes to raise a trillion
The lowest-taxable-income-earning Filipino pays P175 per month, or P2,100 per year to tax; 11.9 million Filipinos will have to contribute their lifetime minimum tax to generate a trillion pesos.
Gas up all public transport
It will only take P2.428 billion to gas up all public utility vehicles for one year. That includes the modern public utility jeepneys (5,000), modern UV Express (25,000), traditional jeepneys (200,000), buses (20,000), tricycles (600,000) and delivery services (140,000). This is based on the number of vehicles enlisted by the Office of Transportation Cooperatives for fuel subsidy. This is equivalent to almost a million of drivers relieved of their daily gas burden.
Feeding the malnourished
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, nearly 600,000 Filipino children — 0 to 5 years old — are malnourished. If fed with a supplementary budget of P100 per day, for 30 days, it will only cost P3,600 per child per year. Given this, to feed the 600,000 malnourished children, the government will need only P2.16 billion for a year.
Now, a trillion pesos could feed all malnourished children over a period of 462 years.
A trillion shared by all Filipinos
If a trillion is shared among the 26.3933 million Filipino households (Philippine Statistics Authority [PSA], 2020), it could have given them P37,887 each, or P3,158 per month for a year. What a help to each of these Filipino households.
Feeding the Filipinos
There are 26.393 million households with an average of four members. Each member consumes 336 grams of rice per day, or 1.3 kg per household with a total of 497 kg per year. Assuming the promised cost of rice at P20 per kg, each household spends P9,937 per year. To feed all these Filipino households with rice, it will take only P262 billion per year.
Therefore, a trillion pesos could feed all Filipino households with rice for almost four years.
Building all classrooms
According to the Department of Education, as of January 2025, there is a need for 165,000 classrooms in public schools. Given the figure of the Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry that builds a two-classroom building for only P650,000, it will only take P53.6 billion to build all of these classrooms. At the Angat Buhay cost of P800,000 to build a classroom, a budget of P132 billion would suffice to close this gap in classrooms.
A trillion for the OFWs
In 2023, there are 2.16 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). The average remittance per month is P52,000 per person. So, every month, we receive roughly P112 billion from OFWs. A trillion pesos could cover nine months of remittances for all OFWs, which would allow them to take nine months of vacation to be with their families.
Domestic helpers in Hong Kong
A domestic helper in Hong Kong earns around P35,000 per month. The 207,590 total deployed is recorded — mostly women working away from their families. Their combined income is P7.3 billion a month, or P87.6 billion a year.
Imagine if the amount that went to corruption was instead used in making them stay at home with a startup capital of P420,000 (equivalent to the annual income they have as domestic helper), they could have earned more and reduced the social cost of overseas employment.
Shared by all students
If a trillion pesos is shared by the 27.6 million enrolled in formal basic education, each student may share P36,231 each, or P3,000 a month.
If 1 trillion is shared among all the 19.5 million college students in public and private colleges and universities, each shall get P51,000 per annum, or P4,200 per month.
Used for salary increase of teachers
There are 1.14 million teachers in both public and private schools. If all of them will be given a subsidy of P10,000 per month, it will only cost P13 billion per month, or P161 billion per year.
One trillion could sustain this teachers’ subsidy for a period of at least six years.
Shared by the vulnerable groups
Given that there are 9.2 million senior citizens, a trillion could have given them P108,695 per year, or P9,057 per month.
For the 2.5 million registered persons with disability, the 1 trillion could have given them P400,000 per annum, or P33,333 per year.
A trillion to houses
Only 62.1 percent of Filipinos own a house and lot (PSA) leaving 10 million households without ownership of a house and lot.
The 1 trillion could have given these households a budget of P100,000 each to jump-start an ownership of a home.
Sharing our debt
As of the end of April, the Philippines’ national debt was P16.75 trillion. Divided among working Filipinos — P52.42 million, according to PSA — each working Filipino shoulders P319,534 of debt. This is way above the minimum wage.
The money we lose to corruption deprives Filipinos of what matters most to them and which these politicians promised that they would deliver to those they fooled.
Let us get angry and act to end this foolishness.
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SOURCE: The Manila Times