Anti-corruption weaponized

By Artchil B. Fernandez

The flood control projects scam has reshaped national politics and conversation. Filipinos are outraged and furious that hundreds of billions of public funds were stolen by corrupt politicians in connivance with crooks in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and greedy contractors.

Filipinos are demanding accountability. Heads must roll. The guilty must be punished. Public anger is not abating, fueled by the slow-paced investigation of the flood control projects scandal. Patience is running thin as Filipinos suspect a cover-up is in the offing. The scale of corruption is unprecedented, and public rage will not be quenched until the thieves are put behind bars.

Sensing a golden opportunity, political blocs are in a race to seize control of the flood control projects scandal narrative for their ends. Political formations see the issue as the key to advancing their political agenda. The two main warring political dynasties in the country—the Dutertes and the Marcoses—are trying to weaponize anti-corruption with the flood control projects scam as their case to pin down each other.

The stakes are high for the Dutertes, who are fighting for their political survival. The collapse of the UniTeam led to their political marginalization. Their former ally, the Marcoses, are using the full might of the state to neutralize, if not bury, them politically.

It was a heaven-sent opportunity for the Dutertes that the flood control projects scam broke out during the presidency of their erstwhile ally, Bongbong Marcos (BBM). For them, this might be BBM’s Achilles’ heel. They can destabilize, if not bring down, his administration with the issue. At last, they now have a weapon to throw BBM’s administration off balance. The Dutertes can have their revenge.

Duterte-allied politicians, especially in the Senate, lost no time in amplifying the issue. They immediately initiated a Senate investigation led by then Blue Ribbon Committee Chair Rodante Marcoleta, a certified Duterte loyalist. He zeroed in on the 2022–2025 period in an attempt to mislead the public into believing that the flood control projects scandal started with BBM’s presidency. It was a blatant bid to weaponize the issue against the current administration.

Then House Speaker Martin Romualdez, BBM’s cousin, was the main punching bag of Duterte senators as they linked his administration to the flood control projects scam. They succeeded in removing him from his post. But BBM beat them when Duterte Senate President Chiz Escudero was ousted from his position and Marcoleta stripped of his Blue Ribbon chairmanship. The Marcoses and Dutertes are even.

Beyond using the flood control projects scam as a weapon against the current administration, the Dutertes have another agenda. They wanted to cover up their complicity in the scandal. The robbery of the national treasury through the flood control projects scandal did not start three years ago but long before that. It was during the six years of the Duterte patriarch’s presidency that the flood control projects scam reached its zenith. More than 13,000 flood control projects all over the country were implemented during the Duterte administration, fattening contractors like the Discayas.

For this reason, it is important for the Dutertes that their allied senators are in charge of the investigation to shield them from the fallout of the flood control projects scam. Unfortunately for them, the administration made a counter-move, removing their allies from the Senate investigation. Now the investigation is in the hands of non-Duterte senators who will not spare the Dutertes and their allies from the probe.

The Marcoses, on the other hand, also look at the flood control projects scandal as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to discredit and demolish the Dutertes. Initial investigation reveals that the Dutertes and their allies are tainted with the scam. It is certain the administration will focus on the years flood control projects flourished during the rule of the elder Duterte. BBM can direct public outrage over the scam toward the Dutertes by exposing how corrupt politicians and wicked contractors robbed the national coffers when the Duterte patriarch was in power. Whether by omission or commission, the Dutertes are certainly involved.

Aside from weaponizing the flood control projects scam against the Dutertes, the Marcoses can also use the issue to whitewash their dark past. They can repackage themselves as anti-corruption champions while blaming the flood control project mess on the Dutertes. The Marcoses are using the issue to rehabilitate themselves, pretending to be the avatars of anti-corruption crusaders. BBM expressing outrage at the scandal, even shedding tears while shaming the politicians, is a shrewd political performative act.

However, BBM’s political performance, no matter how well-coached, will remain hollow, shallow, and a farce unless he also expresses remorse and contrition for the orgy of corruption during the rule of his father. His family has been found to have amassed ill-gotten wealth. Unless his family gives back the stolen public funds, his demand that those involved in the flood control projects scandal return the loot will fall on deaf ears. He should lead by example and walk his talk. Otherwise, his anti-corruption drive is all for show, lacks moral standing, and his motive is suspect.

Filipinos must not allow Team Kadiliman and Team Kasamaan to hijack the flood control projects scandal and weaponize it to serve their self-serving agenda. The Dutertes and the Marcoses exposing each other’s involvement in the scandal will help bring the truth out, but the public must always bear in mind that they have selfish motives. Had the UniTeam not imploded, the massive theft of public funds would not have come to light. Both families would have buried and hidden it from the Filipino people.

Despite and in spite of the Dutertes and the Marcoses, Filipinos should remain steadfast in demanding that the brazen robbery of people’s money must come to an end.