Jail the ‘big ones’ first, worry for the ‘big one’ next

By Alex P. Vidal

“I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.”—Thomas Jefferson

BECAUSE of the two successive earthquakes that hit Cebu in the Visayas and Davao in Mindanao recently, Filipinos are now fearing the so-called “big one,” a projected magnitude 7.2 earthquake that could affect Metro Manila and nearby provinces as part of the West Valley Fauly’s natural long-term cycle, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).

And because of those deadly earthquakes, the media attention has shifted from Zaldy Co, Martin Romualdez, Chiz Escudero, Joel Villanueva, Nancy Binay, Jinggoy Estrada, Sara Duterte-Carpio, among other alleged flood control projects and intelligence funds rapscallions, respectively.

These are some of the so-called “big ones” who have not been prosecuted and convicted in competent courts.

We wish they go to jail first before any “big one” will happen, God forbid.

We hate to see headline stories against these alleged thieves in government disappear or consigned in the jumped pages when natural disasters and other fortuitous incidents occur.

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Of course, we wish there will be no more “big one,” the earthquake; but we are hoping more “big ones” will fall one after another.

“Big ones” or “small ones,” there must be accountability and justice. Public scrutiny must continue; the people’s vigilance and active participation to ferret out the truth is crucial and must continue.

They must be identified, investigated, tried and convicted; and, if possible, ordered to return the money they have stolen from the people.

Restitution is necessary and should be inviolable in order to complete the show.

We need to send a strong message to these rascals that the taxpayers mean business when they urge and support the move by the Marcos Jr. administration to lower the boom on public officials and contractors who stole hundreds of billions of pesos via “ghost” and substandard projects, kickbacks and other illicit backdoor deals.

Already, we have noticed people grumbling and bellyaching that justice grinds slowly in the flood control project anomalies brouhaha.

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It’s been more than a month since the major players and culprits in the DPWH and Congress (both the upper and lower houses) have been identified and mocked in the social media and yet, no one has been manacled and sent to jail.

We understand we need to observe a due process before finally throwing the hard books at these villains, but in the issue of graft and corruption where there is overwhelming preponderance of evidence, prosecution must be expedited so that there will be no room for these bad characters to influence and whitewash the cases and deny the public the justice it richly deserves.

In China and other countries with no-nonsense laws against graft and corruption, heads would have rolled literally.

The war against graft and corruption must be waged in a breakneck pace and there should be no holy cows.

Sometimes people are satisfied when their government dispenses justice swiftly and with alacrity.

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We continue to experience a severe weather condition in New York City and New Jersey as of this writing as dangerous surf conditions continued October 13, bringing strong rip currents and beach erosion along many East Coast beaches.

More than two inches of rain were likely to fall in some spots, according to forecasters. The greatest threat for major flooding was expected to be in Long Island and southern New Jersey, reported the NBC New York.

Coastal flooding was expected to peak October 13 afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. A ground stop was issued at John F. Kennedy Airport through 2:45 p.m. due to winds.

High wind advisories were dropped Monday morning for the area, but lingering gusts can still potentially bring down trees, which could cause power outages. As of 8:30 a.m., power outages in the tri-state total 32,080.

New Jersey has been under a state of emergency since October 11 night. Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an emergency declaration for eight southern counties October 12 evening. New York’s State of Emergency due to the nor’easter prompted organizers to cancel the NYC Columbus Day Parade scheduled for October 13.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)