Compromised reform

By Artchil B. Fernandez

When Bongbong Marcos (BBM) opened a can of worms on the ghost flood control projects last year, he thought he was playing the hero by exposing the scam. He saw opportunities in such a move.

First, he could project himself as an anti-corruption crusader. This would allow him to recast himself and his family in a good light, obscuring the systematic corruption during the dictatorship of his late father. By raging against the massive and unprecedented theft of public funds through non-existing flood control projects, BBM could whitewash and conceal the corruption of his family.

The ghost flood control projects scandal can be a weapon, BBM believed. Most of the flood control projects now exposed as phantom were approved and implemented during the Duterte administration. It’s a “gotcha” moment for BBM against the Dutertes. In a time when the conflict between House Duterte and House Marcos is intensifying, BBM saw in the scandal a chance to pin down the other side.

Many high-profile politicians who are entangled in the ghost flood control projects, especially in the Senate, are identified with the Duterte camp. BBM can use the scam to neutralize and paralyze them — a heaven-sent opportunity.

When the ghost flood control projects scandal broke out, BBM and his administration aligned themselves with public sentiment. Filipinos were outraged and furious that members of Congress and the Senate, in connivance with greedy contractors and unscrupulous bureaucrats, are brazenly and shamelessly stealing their money.

Public fury was inflamed and encouraged by the administration. A special website was created by BBM where people can report questionable flood control projects, thus providing them a venue to vent their anger. An investigative body, the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), was formed by BBM to look into the mess. Findings of the commission were shared with the public, further stoking people’s anger.

But BBM failed to anticipate the unintended consequences of the ghost flood control projects scandal. He also did not foresee the depth and breadth of the scam. As the investigations by both Houses of Congress and by the ICI on the scandal deepened, it became clear and apparent that not only the Dutertes and their allies are deeply involved but also close friends, relatives, and supporters of BBM.

Worse, the tentacles of the ghost flood control scandal even reached the inner circle of BBM, with some cabinet members under suspicion of being immersed in the mess. There are even insinuations that BBM himself knows something about the scam.

Interest of the current administration in the ghost flood control projects started to wane. The ICI is crippled by the resignations of key members, and its current status is in limbo. BBM previously vowed that prominent personalities involved in the scam would spend Christmas in jail. It’s already Chinese New Year, but none of them are jailed except minor functionaries in the bureaucracy, some contractors, and a former senator. The fire and brimstone against corruption are gone and the promised reform went up in smoke.

The fate of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee report on the ghost flood control scandal clearly illustrates how reform is compromised by transactional politics, power play, the logic of survival, and political quid pro quos. Reform is held hostage by dirty deals.

The draft report of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee was leaked to the public. Three Duterte-allied senators — Chiz Escudero, Joel Villanueva, and Jinggoy Estrada — were recommended to be charged in connection with the ghost flood control projects. The leakage of the report triggered a coup attempt in the Senate. Some senators in the majority, for reasons of their own, are uncomfortable with the draft report, encouraging the minority to launch a coup attempt. They have kin and skin to protect and shield.

The Senate coup was nipped in the bud, but accountability, transparency, and reform were the casualties. The report is being diluted, with recommendations for “further investigations” replacing the filing of charges. It appears political expediency took precedence over reform, thus compromising it. Calls for reform are silenced by politics.

To preserve the slim administration majority in the Senate, reform as well as accountability related to the ghost flood control projects scam are sacrificed. The looming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte further complicates the situation. The administration cannot afford to lose its fragile majority if it desires a conviction.

What happened to the draft Senate report on ghost flood control projects indicates the Senate is a weak institution. It also shows that the Philippine state as a whole is a weak state. A weak institution or a weak state is one that is captured by vested interests. The inability of the Senate to hold its members accountable is a demonstration that vested interests have seized control of the institution. Its members are serving their self-interest instead of the public interest.

With vested interests taking precedence over everything else, the outcome of the ghost flood control projects scandal investigation is predictable — business as usual, with no one held accountable for the biggest corruption scandal in history.

It is now up to the Filipino people to push for reform and justice in the theft of hundreds of billions of pesos in public funds. Leaders of the land — from the president to senators, down to members of Congress — cannot be relied upon to push for meaningful change. They are all tainted, hence they compromised reform in exchange for thirty pieces of silver. Advancing their personal agendas and preserving their selfish interests are all that matter to them; public be damned.