The nation enraged

By Artchil B. Fernandez

Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos across the nation went to the streets this week to express their anger at the massive corruption involving flood control projects. The nation is enraged that billions of public funds have been stolen through substandard or ghost flood control projects orchestrated by corrupt politicians, crooks in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and greedy contractors.

The extent and scale of the theft shocked Filipinos. Hundreds of billions of people’s money allocated to tens of thousands of flood control projects all over the country went into the pockets of those involved in the scam. Worse, the thieves and their families shamelessly display their stolen wealth by publicly wearing expensive accessories and clothes worth hundreds of millions. They advertise on their social media accounts their trips abroad paid for by taxpayers and the fleets of luxury cars acquired through stolen wealth. They also waste public funds in casinos, gambling away hundreds of millions.

Filipinos have the right to be furious. They are heavily taxed by the government only for the money to be feasted on by government officials in cahoots with wicked contractors. To express their rage and indignation, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos this week marched and protested against corruption across the country. Prior to the September 21 big event, rallies were staged in different parts of the country as part of the build-up activities.

But the critical question is: what happens next? Filipinos have aired their grievances and expressed their outrage in the latest saga of corruption in the country. This is not the first corruption scandal in the country, but the flood control projects scam could be the biggest theft of public funds so far. The fight against corruption should not end with the protest actions last Sunday. But, what will be the endgame of the flood control projects scam? Will its conclusion be similar to the Napoles and the fake Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) scam more than a decade ago?

Hundreds of millions of people’s money were funneled by members of Congress – congressmen/women and senators – to bogus NGOs created by Janet Lim-Napoles. Today, only Napoles is in jail for the pork-barrel scam, while legislators who were involved were set free by the previous administration of Rodrigo Duterte, and some of them are still sitting in Congress.

Failing to make the legislators in the Napoles scandal accountable by sending them to jail more than likely emboldened them to perpetrate a bigger robbery – the flood control projects scam. Instead of hundreds of millions, the legislators, aided by crooks in the DPWH and corrupt contractors, are now stealing hundreds of billions of people’s money. Some of those involved in the Napoles pork-barrel scandal, like Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla, are now accused of being part of the flood control projects scam. Some people don’t change. Robbing the national treasury is a habit that is hard to shed.

To assuage the anger of Filipinos, various branches of government are in a race to outdo each other in investigating the flood control projects scam. Both Houses of Congress have conducted hearings investigating the scandal. But these Congressional investigations are suspect. Members of Congress are involved in the flood control projects scam, and they are investigating themselves? Will they indict themselves? Will these investigations lead to prosecution and conviction? It is highly doubtful.

Hearings in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee reveal senators are more interested in getting themselves or their allies off the hook than finding the truth behind the flood control project mess. The most obvious among them is Marcoleta, who not only lawyers for the Discaya couple but also sought to limit the investigation to the current administration and shield the Duterte administration, under which more than 13,000 flood control projects were done. Jinggoy Estrada, Joel Villanueva, and Chiz Escudero are using the Senate hearings as a platform to exonerate themselves.

The executive branch, on the other hand, has also jumped on the bandwagon. Bongbong Marcos (BBM) created a special investigating body, the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), through Executive Order (EO) 94. ICI is tasked to “hear, investigate, receive, gather, and evaluate evidence, intelligence reports and information, against all government officials and employees, and any other individual, involved in anomalies, irregularities, and misuse of funds in the planning, financing, and implementation of government flood control and other infrastructure projects nationwide.” It is composed of a chair and two members with an executive director.

The frenzy of investigations into the flood control projects scam is definitely designed to stave off and dissipate the fury of the public. Filipinos should not be fooled by these investigations. The anger and rage of the nation must be sustained and maintained. Filipinos must remain vigilant and continue to protest against the massive theft of taxpayers’ money. The public must not rest until the thieves are jailed.

It is very clear various political blocs are trying to capitalize on public rage to discredit each other. House Duterte is using the issue to destabilize the current administration while trying to cover up their involvement in the flood control projects scam. The Marcoses will definitely focus on the flood control projects done during the Duterte administration to pin down the Dutertes. Each side will try to evade responsibility and escape from their culpability in the latest corruption scandal.

Filipinos must avoid being drawn into the Duterte-Marcos brawl and should be razor-focused on ensuring that those involved in the flood control projects scam are imprisoned. Congressmen/women and senators, along with corrupt DPWH officials and greedy contractors who are the architects of the flood control projects scam, must be made to pay for their high crimes against the nation. The rage must be sustained.