All the president’s men

It has been close to 3 months since I wrote something about the government’s flood control projects and the massive corruption that surrounds it (see “Hard truths,” September 20). A lot has already happened since then. And I mean a 𝘭𝘰𝘵, whether directly, indirectly or not related at all to the issue in question. As I have noted before, the plot thickens. And like a good long novel, the turn of events is of varying hues: surprising, disappointing, outrageous, hilarious, bizarre, shocking, delightful, frustrating.

Like when former House of Representatives (HOR) Speaker Martin Romualdez, in a beguilingly rare occasion, already showed up in public to attend the hearing on the flood control project anomalies conducted by the Executive Order (EO)-mandated Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI). Startlingly, this specific hearing (as well as the others) was done privately and, after that, Romualdez emerged from it with apparently clean hands. That would eventually proved to be his first and last (?) appearance in public in the heat of the flood control scandal.

Another is when Curlee and Sarah Discaya, the husband-and-wife contractors that primarily triggered the investigation into the matter, declared that they would not attend the ICI hearings any longer, implying that they would rather appear in a court of law. The reasons were vague, but apparently the Discayas were becoming increasingly frustrated at how the investigations seemed to zero-in on them as the “principal” culprits or masterminds when allegedly there were some “bigger” heads behind the matter. Makes sense, right?

Understandably, the public was becoming furious and discontented more than ever. Thus, three mass demonstrations against corruption were held these past few weeks on different occasions. The first was on September 21, coinciding with the 53rd anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in the country, done by Former President Ferdinand Marcos, father of the current president, Bongbong Marcos. The second was the 3-day rally (November 16-18) held by all the members of the religious denomination Iglesia ni Cristo (INC). While the third was last November 30, the same day as the birth of our revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio.

The common venues of these demonstrations were the Rizal Park or Luneta, the Quirino Grandstand and Mendiola Street that is near Malacañang, the official presidential residence. But the most telling thing in all of these was the clamor for Bongbong to step down from office, as it becomes clearer and clearer that he is actually the mastermind of all the plunder of the nation’s coffers (more on this shortly). Sadly, the explicit aim of these big rallies did not come to fruition at all as the rallyists were divided among themselves, each with their own self-interests and political agenda. As it was, they themselves were confused as to what kind of 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 they really wanted.

But more than this, there were a couple of events that happened that could prove really damning to Bongbong. It was like no matter how he denies or ignores the matter, the exasperated and furious public would rather see him as guilty already 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 proven otherwise. But even if proven innocent, the public would still be understandably doubtful about it, given Bongbong’s and his entire family’s reputation.

First of these was resigned Ako Bicol partylist representative Zaldy Co’s series of videos where he directly and explicitly implicated cousins Bongbong and Martin to the billions-of-peso insertions to the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) or National Budget, under the guise of numerous infrastructure projects, most notable of which were the flood control projects across the nation, which, as we all know by now, turned out to be ghost projects or, if they were initiated at all, were abandoned right away for good. Implicating the President and the former House Speaker makes them the primary 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 of such a criminal act. That was quite a revelation, wasn’t it?

Co’s testimonies are not something to be regarded as lightweight. It is because he is the former chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee which oversees the budget and expenditures of the national government. As such, he knew all too well what budget insertions were being made by the house representatives, for what government department/agency and for what purpose. It is simply against common sense that Co would be able to 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦-𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 manipulate and maneuver the nation’s budget 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 him being detected at all by those around and above him. Ironically, in the said videos, he outrightly denied that he received any money at all from such a massive corruption, something which the public and his detractors understandably saw as totally unbelievable. It was like: Who are you kidding?

Granted that such was a major flaw in Co’s confession, if we are to look at the bigger picture though it was quite satisfying that he was able to categorically pinpoint the two big fish, who we instinctively know to be never without any direct involvement, given the notorious reputation of their family.

The second event was Senator Imee Marcos’ “surprise” speech at the above-mentioned INC rally where she finally revealed a dark and nasty family “secret”: that her brother Bongbong is in fact a chronic drug user. When the senator initially appeared onstage, she was greeted with jeers from the large crowd. What the heck was she doing here, they most likely thought. Until the big reveal, whereby the jeers immediately turned to cheers. As a matter of fact, it was not really a revelation in the strict sense of the word, because we already felt all along that Bongbong is definitely a drug addict.

Whatever Imee’s motives were in exposing her brother’s dirty linen to the public, it was one tough act and certainly has a grave implication: that Bongbong is not fit to be a head of state. How can he make sound decisions and judgments regarding the affairs of the country when his mind and body are always addled by cocaine and marijuana (Bongbong’s preferred drugs, says Imee)? Unless Bongbong has since become a “Manchurian candidate,” a mere stand-in for someone who is 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 ruling the country. Who? Well, your guess is probably as good as mine. This was even hinted at by Imee in her speech when she spoke about how there are certain people around Bongbong who act like they were the actual president.

It is overwhelming to see how, in merely 5 months’ time, the flood control corruption scandal has progressed from the lower ranks (like the contractors and engineers) to the higher ones (Marcos and Romualdez). As it should, right? Mainly because those operating below would not be able to steal the taxpayers’ money by way of ghost projects if they were not being given the go-signal by those occupying important positions above. Government corruption here in our country is one big criminal network. It is like one giant anaconda eating away the nation and its people. And to stop its greedy hunger, one must naturally aim for the head, the nominal root of it all.

Bongbong’s impeachable offenses are undoubtedly blaring already to the faces of everyone. There is no scarcity of compelling facts and signals that may truly warrant his removal from office.

Lest we forget, Article XI, Section 2 of the Constitution clearly states:

“The President, the Vice-President, the Members of the Supreme Court, the Members of the Constitutional Commissions, and the Ombudsman may be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust. All other public officers and employees may be removed from office as provided by law, but not by impeachment.”

It can no longer be hidden as well how questionable the president’s health is, considering that the Constitution likewise declares that “the public shall be informed of the state of his health.”

But for reasons that escape the public’s comprehension, the HOR is deafeningly silent about Bongbong’s culpability. As granted by the Constitution, they have the sole power to initiate impeachment proceedings. But they appear to be indifferent about this. Rather, they are taking up the cudgels for their dear president, wonder of all wonders. Not to side with Vice-President Sara Duterte, but if she were in the place of Bongbong, the HOR would be all set to file an impeachment case without batting an eyelash, if you know what I mean. On that point alone, how can the HOR have a moral ascendancy with regards to impeachment proceedings if they are as biased as a K-Pop fan.

Even the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), who is mandated “to uphold and defend [the] Constitution” and must be “insulated from partisan politics,” is terribly disappointing in their obvious protection of a corrupt and junkie president. In all appearances, they too are adopting the behavior of the infamous three monkeys: hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. They should actually be the last hope of a troubled nation, but even such hope seems to be already abandoned.

In a perfect world, the moment the issues of plunder, malversation of public funds, betrayal of public trust, and drug abuse start smearing the Office of the President, Bongbong, if he had any integrity left in himself and if he still cared a bit for the country, should have stepped down from his post immediately and faced accountability for all his crimes. Leadership by example, as it should have been.

But then, all the president’s men – the Congress, the army, the police, even the Ombudsman and the interior secretary – are one in defending him and keeping him in office no matter what it takes, even if it means “bending” the law, turning their backs on their mandate to the citizens and letting our beloved country further slide into the quicksand of poverty, discontentment and chaos.

The longer Bongbong remains in office, the more our country remains stuck in muck and mire. I have said this before: 3 more years is way too long for Bongbong’s kind of leadership and government.