BBM’s moral handicap

By Artchil B. Fernandez

Is this an astounding reversal of fortune or a cruel and sick joke of fate? This wacky question aptly describes the current situation of the country.

It was unimaginable and unthinkable until three months ago that a Marcos would be an anti-corruption crusader and champion of clean, honest, and transparent governance.

During his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July, President Bongbong Marcos (BBM) unleashed a category 5 political storm when he lashed out at corruption in infrastructure projects. Mahiya naman kayo (have some shame), he admonished the thieves.

Two weeks later, he revealed the names of 15 construction firms that had cornered 20 percent of the flood control projects in the country.

Thereafter, the dominoes started to fall, exposing the massive theft of hundreds of billions of public funds. The funds were stolen through substandard or ghost (nonexistent) flood control projects. The loot is shared by crooks in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), greedy contractors, and corrupt politicians.

Filipinos are outraged and furious upon learning of the colossal looting of the national treasury. Adding oil to the fire is the shameless public display of the luxurious lifestyles of the kids (nepo babies) of these wicked contractors and vile politicians, spending the stolen public funds like there is no tomorrow.

Public rage and anger have not subsided. Filipinos are demanding that these horrible and dirty politicians (congressmen/women and senators) and their accomplices be punished and jailed.

Heads must roll, Filipinos insist. Clean up the government.

BBM placed himself at the center of the raging storm by making the investigation of the flood control project scandal the top priority of his administration. He seized the issue to regain the political initiative, dictate the national discourse, and recover from the lethargic performance of his administration in the last election. Punishing the evildoers in the flood control scam appears to be the new obsession of BBM’s administration.

Thus, BBM is reincarnated as a moral militant, a scourge of the corrupt, and an anti-corruption zealot, promoting good and clean governance. This is a clever pivot by BBM. In a single stroke, BBM is whitewashing the past, rebranding their name, and burying the dark deeds of his family.

At the same time, the flood control project scandal handed BBM a weapon to trounce his political adversaries, particularly the Dutertes and their allies. The flood control scam gained momentum and accelerated during the administration of the Duterte patriarch, where more than 13,000 flood control projects were implemented. Most politicians allied with the Dutertes feasted on the flood control projects like vultures gorging on a carcass.

The Discayas admitted in an interview prior to the exposé of the scam that they began amassing their amazing wealth in 2016 when they dipped their hands into the flood control projects of the DPWH. There is indeed goods on the Dutertes and their allies. This explains why Marcoleta and other Duterte senators wanted to limit the investigations on the flood control project scandal from 2022 to 2025 only. They are moving heaven and earth to prevent the investigation from going back to as far as 2016, when the Dutertes rose to power. While covering their tracks, the Duterte senators wanted to weaponize the scandal against BBM and his administration, pinning the blame on them.

A perfect opportunity landed on BBM’s lap. The flood control project scandal allows BBM to repackage himself and his family and conceal their dark side. BBM can use the issue to whitewash the “biggest thieves” label of the Marcoses and reinvent themselves as anti-corruption champions. While covering up their nefarious past, he wields the issue to pin down the Dutertes and allies, interring them politically.

But BBM is morally handicapped in waging his anti-corruption crusade. He must practice what he preaches and walk his talk to be a credible anti-corruption advocate. BBM recently said he must carefully build a case against the culprits in the flood control project mess to “make sure that all of them will be jailed, and all of the money they stole will be returned to the government and to the people.”

Did BBM and his family return the ill-gotten wealth they acquired during the 20-year rule of his father? On July 15, 2003, the Supreme Court of the Philippines ruled that over PHP 25 billion worth of Marcos assets were considered ill-gotten wealth. Before BBM demands that the thieves in the flood control projects return their loot, his family must first do the same.

Stephen Bosworth, former U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, in a 1985 report to the United States Congress House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said the Marcoses stole an estimated USD 10 billion from the Filipino people. As of today, approximately around USD 3.4 billion has been recovered. The hunt for the Marcos ill-gotten wealth is ongoing.

If BBM is a real anti-corruption crusader, his family must return the rest of the ill-gotten wealth to the Filipino people. BBM must lead by example; otherwise, his call for the return of flood control project stolen funds will fall on deaf ears. His campaign against corruption will be stale, shallow, a farce, and politically suspect.

BBM may succeed in using the flood control project scam to demolish the Dutertes and allies who appear to be tainted with the scandal, but his other scheme—use the issue to hide the dark past of his family—is bound to fail. He lacks the moral standing to be an anti-corruption champion since he and his family were also involved in corruption when the Marcos patriarch ruled the country.

There is no redemption unless there is restitution. All stolen public funds, past and present, must be returned to the Filipino people.