‘Allow citizens to file forfeiture cases vs erring officials’

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December 6, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — With billions of pesos lost to corruption in the anomalous flood control projects, Akbayan party-list Rep. Chel Diokno has filed a bill seeking to allow private citizens to directly initiate forfeiture cases against erring government officials.

In House Bill 6619, Diokno said private citizens must be given the opportunity to take an active role in recovering stolen money from corrupt officials.

The bill also seeks to make the 65-year-old Republic Act 1379, or Forfeiture Law, attuned to the present by allowing citizens to file cases to recover ill-gotten wealth and ensure that stolen public funds are swiftly returned to the people.

Diokno filed the measure together with fellow Akbayan party-list Reps. Percival Cendaña and Haima Ismula, and Dinagat Islands Rep. Arlene Kaka Bag-ao.

If passed into law, the measure will allow people, civil society groups and corporations, among others, to initiate and participate in civil forfeiture proceedings at regional trial courts.

“We call on our colleagues to support this long-overdue reform so we can strengthen accountability, empower citizens and ensure that every peso stolen from the people is returned to the people,” Diokno said in a statement.

Under the measure, the bulk of the amount recovered will be allocated for education, health, socialized housing and social security. The people or groups that file the case get 10 percent of the total amount recovered, as a reward.

“The unique remedy of civil forfeiture has the potential to expedite accountability from errant and corrupt public officers. In refining this legislation, we aim to strengthen the mandated trust between our public officials and the Filipino people,” Diokno said.