Hard truths

We all know that government corruption has been in existence, unfortunately, for the longest possible time. But never has it been more exposed to intense public scrutiny and outrage than in the issue of flood control projects that is currently besetting our nation. It is because we, the citizens, have directly felt the dire consequences of the corruption involved in such projects: the massive flooding in Metro Manila and all the other nearby provinces. This is to such an extent that it does not take a typhoon anymore to submerge ourselves in deep floodwaters – even a “simple” rainfall would do.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece in which I stated how the plot of this flood control projects saga thickens by the day. The recent developments or turn of events in this issue attest to this even further. Things are becoming more interesting, whether you like it or not. However, I will not delve into the details of these developments anymore. Rather, I will just state some hard truths (“takeaways,” if you may say so) that can be gleaned from such.

• Birds of the same feather flock together

One of the major things that happened in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the flood control projects last September 8 was the revelation by Pacifico and Sarah Discaya (one of the top contractors involved in such projects) of some big or essential names who gained large kickbacks, like billions and billions, from these dubious undertakings. The list primarily included politicians (mostly congressmen) and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineers and officials. The most damning aspect here, though, was the mention of House of Representatives (HOR) Speaker Martin Romualdez (who, as of this writing, already stepped down from his position) and former Chair of the House Appropriations Committee Zaldy Co, who were allegedly the major “beneficiaries” (masterminds, if you will) of the project kickbacks.

The ball did actually roll now at this point, we would like to think, right? Well, not quite yet. It is because the following day, when the HOR's Infrastructure Committee (InfraComm) held its own investigation of the flood control projects, nary a mention was made of the names mentioned by the Discayas in the Senate hearing. This, despite the fact that Mr. Discaya was also present in the InfraComm hearing, as well as Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto (a rival of Sarah Discaya in the city mayoralty elections last May), a self-confessed anti-corruption advocate who, bafflingly, opted to focus instead on the veracity of the kickback percentage stated by the couple.

A different kind of revelation happened instead, courtesy of Brice Hernandez, a former DPWH assistant district engineer who is also one of the personalities being involved in the anomalies. Surprise (or no surprise), but Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva, both part of the Blue Ribbon Committee, were now being accused of gaining kickbacks as well from the flood control projects. So the situation was like this: The Senate got to sling mud first at the HOR; not to be upstaged, the HOR made sure to sling mud at the Senate as well.

Meanwhile, it does not take rocket science to connect some dots here. Mayor Vico is the nephew of Tito Sotto, currently the Senate President, who, as he himself admits, is close friends with Former Speaker Romualdez. And before we even forget, on the day itself of the Senate Blue Ribbon hearing last Sept. 8, there occurred a “sudden” change of leadership where Chiz Escudero got replaced by Sotto as Senate President and Panfilo Lacson (he and Sotto were the presidential and vice-presidential tandem in the 2022 presidential elections) took over the Blue Ribbon chairmanship from Rodante Marcoleta who was only able to preside over three separate hearings of the flood control projects.

Why is this happening at all? Nothing to wonder about: to protect their own hood and to prevent some “untouchable” names from leaking any further. Better to trap some small sacrificial lambs than to catch a whole bunch of big fish.

• Much ado about nothing

Various names are being dropped and dragged in these anomalous projects. Both the Senate and the HOR are inviting over several resource persons to their respective legislative hearings on the said issue. As if both of these hearings were not enough, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. created, by way of an Executive Order, the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) which is tasked “to investigate and recommend appropriate charges against government officials, employees, or individuals involved in anomalies in flood control and related projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) within the last 10 years.” Is this a case of “the more, the merrier”? Another commission, therefore another confusion and diversion?

How “independent” is this new commission going to be, considering that it was spearheaded by no less than Marcos himself? Will it not actually backfire against him, if you know what I mean? Come to think of it, if Marcos were really sincere and vigilant about this flood control project controversy, right from the start, particularly when the Discayas began to reveal some important names, he could have probably ordered right away the filing of criminal charges against those public officials and removed most of them (especially the appointed ones) from office. Whether we like it or not, the Discaya list was a strong enough start, considering that it was stated under Senate oath. Everyone could have most likely saved some precious time from the legislative hearings.

But why the president’s seemingly sluggish and lackadaisical response to the whole matter, even when the prime suspects are already there for everyone to see? There is literally no mention of Romualdez, the president’s first cousin, coming out from his own mouth. Precisely because he is Marcos’ cousin. When Marcos initially made known to the public the top 15 contractors who acquired almost all of the government’s flood control projects in the entire country, he withheld mentioning specific names, even if upon further investigation it turned out that some of the construction companies were tied to some politicians, one of whom was Co.

The point here is that there is a glaring lack of urgency and sincerity in how the country’s Chief Executive is addressing the issue, even if it already involves billions and billions of looted and wasted taxpayers’ money. Money that should have been used for the citizens’ welfare and the country’s progress. It appears that Marcos treats this corruption scandal as just another rote issue, ready to be dismissed until the next big headline comes out. Well, how can we expect him to fight corruption head-on when his very own family, as history tells us, has a legacy of plunder? His own mother, ex-First Lady Imelda Marcos, was convicted of graft some years back by the Sandiganbayan and should have been serving her time in jail already.

That our dear president claims ignorance of the dirty goings-on in his government that are happening right under his nose is plainly unbelievable. It is highly expected of him to have a clear oversight of his administration.

• Apathy and complacency are the devil’s ace

One ugly truth that we must confront is that government corruption is so much embedded in the flesh and blood of our society. That it is such speaks so much about our apathy and complacency toward the matter. That is why public officials have become utterly brazen and remorseless when it comes to plundering the national coffers, for they fully know that we will just turn a blind eye to their crimes. Have standing up and fighting back been totally lost on us?

The very essence of democracy is that power truly comes from the masses. Sadly, this is something that we are taking for granted. If we are to follow the so-called due process to the letter, it will definitely take years and years until our society is fully purged of corruption, if at all. It is like intensively treating a terminal illness. Remember how Jose Rizal considered corruption as no different from cancer? It is astounding to find out that this “disease” goes as far back as the time of the Spanish colonizers.

But how can we even initiate change and reform if we do not really care? Are we waiting for someone to ignite the spark – like those from the middle- and upper-class, some influential celebrity, the Church, or even the military itself? Modern history has twice shown that Filipinos are truly capable of unseating abusive and rotten presidents. Is history bound to repeat once more, like some kind of Nietzschean eternal recurrence?

• The government is dirty, ugly and bad

Can we ever get out from the flood control mess that our country is currently in? Sadly, our government is so rotten to the core that answering such a question in the affirmative might prove to be futile. We would very much like to see a lot of heads rolling as a result of the ongoing investigations or hearings on this atrocious issue. However, with all the evasions, cover-ups, manipulations, and diversions taking place, you cannot be blamed for doubting if the current battle against government corruption and incompetence will have a long life-span. The proliferation of lies is another ace up the devil’s sleeve.

At best (and if we are really patient), we can effect a complete overhaul of political leadership by judiciously and conscientiously exercising our powers of voting at the time of the May 2028 national and local elections. We have suffered long enough already, thus we must fully make sure that this sacred duty of ours will not give in anymore to false promises, blind worship, cheap theatrics, and deceitful bribes. Otherwise, for all we know, Indonesia, Nepal and France may have been giving us signs already as to how things should be done.

For once, let us set aside our political colors in our fight against corruption. We should not be fighting among ourselves, with one group trying to upstage another or allowing to be manipulated by others. The real fight should be against the insatiable reptiles in the government. And please, let us not forget them ever.