Question is, how can gov officials gamble that big when their salary won’t even cover a fraction of it? Corruption? Loans? What do you think?
It's clearly because of corruption, and I wouldn't be surprised if their money is connected to the flood control corruption scandal that is currently a very hot topic in the Philippines. Their supposed salary was mentioned in the article too, it is clear that the money they used to gamble didn't come from their income as an engineer.
here's the bracket of salary grade.
https://www.dbm.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/Staffing/STAFFING2023/Table-II-Staffing-Summary.pdfAs you can see, even the highest salary is only around $10k a month- that’s probably the president’s salary. So where are these people getting the money for gambling? The fact that it’s being spent in casinos just shows they’re not doing it for entertainment.
What a shame for the government, knowing this money is coming from somewhere else.