In the Philippines, who is the real parasite?

Every storm in the Philippines tells a similar story: floodwaters rise, homes are washed away, and families lose everything overnight. Yet behind every disaster lies another tragedy, the money that could have protected lives and communities often disappears into the pockets of corrupt officials.

This cruel cycle makes Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite (2019) feel relatable. Through humor, suspense, and a lot of symbolism, the film shows how the gap between the rich and poor inevitably leads to tragedy– the same message that echoes sharply in the Philippines today. Not only because of the recent floods that displaced 87, 000 people in one region alone, but also because of the scandal involving billions stolen from the nation’s flood control fund.

And so the question becomes unavoidable: in a nation drowning not only in floodwaters but also in corruption, who is the real parasite?

Parasite’s parallel in society

A parasite lives by feeding on its host. That’s the point of Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, and it’s the point we miss in our own society. In the film, The Kims deceived the Parks out of desperation, not luxury.  They cling to the wealthy family not for extravagance but for survival, for something as basic as a decent meal. 

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, where 52% of the population identifies themselves as “poor,” it is not the powerless who exploit the system but the powerful. They fatten themselves on public funds meant to keep the poor alive. 

Floods as blessings for the corrupt

In today’s situation, the true parasites are these corrupt officials who profit from disaster.  For those who never lived in poverty, storms and typhoons are not threats but opportunities; sources of fresh funds to pocket. While whole communities wade through filthy floodwater, they sit dry on carpets soft as velvet, their feet never touching the stench of the streets.

This reveals a harsh truth: it isn’t the storms and typhoons that deepen inequality, but the relentless corruption that thrives on them. 

Why Inequality is not an accident, but a strategy

Out-of-touch politicians will never grasp the suffering of the poor, not because they lack imagination, but because they are part of the formula that equates inequality. They sit cushioned by privilege, with carpets where others have mud. These so-called leaders are draped in wealth, while the poor are drenched in dirty water. Greed is their roof, but for many, even shelter is a dream.

Their survival depends on one thing: keeping everyone else from climbing high enough to touch them.

No antagonist, yet a villain

Parasite never names a single villain. Both rich and poor are pawns of the same rigged game.

Likewise, in the Philippines, inequality is not caused by one storm or one family but a system of corruption itself that plays the role of the villain.

The cost of greed is death

The film ends in a storm of blood than a resolution. Where desperation bursts into violence and leaves only death behind. In a way, it leaves a simple yet brutal reminder that inequality doesn’t just wound pride and causes discomfort– it spills bodies on the floor, and it kills. 

In the Philippines, corruption follows the same path. Stolen flood control funds do not only mean wasted opportunities; they translate directly into lives lost: families swept away by floods, children buried in landslides, and communities erased by disasters that could have been prevented.

In short, corruption does not merely drain money and resources; it drains life. 

The real pests in question

Parasite forces us to question who really exploits whom. In the Philippines, the answer is clear. The real parasites are not the poor struggling to survive, but the corrupt politicians who feed on the nation’s lifeblood. They are the ones who turn storms into profit, poverty into opportunity, and inequality into their fortress.

And just like in the film, the cost of their greed is measured in death. Until these parasites are exposed and destroyed, the Philippines will keep drowning—not in floods, but in corruption.