President Bongbong Marcos must have been nonplussed when he opened –accidentally discovered, so they say—a Pandora’s box in public works anomalies when some crooks hiding in plain sight confessed their big time shenanigans, or “sins” if you will.
That is said as a concessional understanding of most Fiipinos’ theology given that the Philippines was allegedly the first Christian nation in Asia. That historical or theological concession can be best appreciated in that before the Second World War, the country was second only to Japan in development.
At least, it is much easier to locate it, theologically or developmentally today. South Korea, by comparison, is way, way ahead on both counts. Other much lesser Asian nations are expected to make a breakthrough,another cheery Christian message. The sectarian counterpart is that more Pinoys are now more optimistic, notwithstanding.
Which reminds me of ‘what the late Pampanga governor Bren Z. Guiao said that the Kapampangans were congenitally optimistic. He also said that politics is a thankless job, which probably explains why some big time politicians are named as big time crooks. Proportion is perspective or what is power for. Ask a local politician who has never had it like an apotheosis.
Given the current scenario, depressing or otherwise, there were probably less crooks then than there are now sprouting like backyard mushrooms, easily defined as thriving well in darkness. PBBM’s discovery of the Pandora’s box gave the dark landscape the much-needed sunshine treatment.
Lo and alas!
There is only one way to find out if a man is honest, Groucho Marx said, ask him. If he said “yes”, you know he is a crook.
In the subsequent hearing held in the House of Representatives and the Senate, the results were mixed. Some were forthright; some had to be named as less forthright. In the Independent
Commission for Infrastrjucture (ICI), officials HAVE YET to be evaluated by the Ombudsman for accountability. It may not be soon, given that the Supreme Court has yet to issue a mea culpa in relation to an alleged fictional point in a certain ruling on the vice president’s impeachment.
It’s amazing, even admirable, how some public engineers had owned up to their crimes, meaning not necessarily the wages is death given the lack of a law for it. A former senator had pushed for it earlier but changed his mind after remembering that some criminals have been making good while serving time in prison.
But politicians, legislators even, have found that the Nile is not only a river in Egypt but a safe place to hide their crimes, nothwithstanding the testimonies to the contrary. Luxury cars owned by lucky contractors have been a give-away. The lavish lifestyle of some government engineers have also indicated that where there is smoke, there is fire.
The A merican most notorious criminal Al Capone said that a crook is a crook and there’s something healthy about his frankness on the matter. “But any guy who pretends to enforce the law and steals on his authority is a swell snake.” The worst of these punks, he said” is the big politician.
In the Senate hearing, four senators have been implicated in millions, even billions of budget insertions, that led to a slew of anomalous rackets ranging from substandard projects –a commonality according to a whistleblower, ghost flood projects and incomplete ones
In the wake of such implications, prominent heads and leaders have already rolled. The Senate president, who held on tightly to his post, after being widely criticized for the mucn delayed impeachment trial, resigned after the revelation. Three senators are still clinging to self=serving denial of innocence while the other one awaits another corroborative testimony. The Speaker is also out but not yet safe, to use a popular mantra.
The father of one senator, who is the founder of a big Christian ministry and is a party list representative, has hinted at a possible legal case against a House legislator for the implication of his son, He also pronounced an Biblical anathema- -a curse=against the congressman for the damaging disclosure.
The father’s angry reaction was felt by many, especially by Christians, as less than pastoral in tenor and heavily called for falling shorts of the Christian doctrine of forgiveness. The lack of Christian pastoral demeanor draws flak in light of a recent event the United States where the forgiving attitude of the wife of Charles Kirk, a American Christian leader, is contrasted with that of US President T rump and other Christian allies who expressed hatred for the murder.
As it is, Christian doctrines are seen being weaponized, even developed, into a political strategy, against those perceived enemies instead of expressing forgiveness, even love.
As more are implicated in public works anomalies, the ongoing hearings appear to become more confusing and more discombobulated with changing statements, changing hearts , personal threats and political pressures being thrown at every angle and opportunity.
Even the President’s ICC isn’t spared from intrigues, especially when he declared he would not spare anyone, ally or kin, if found involved in the great anomaly of the century. The resignation by the ICC special advisor Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong has affected the ICC’s credibility. The naming of a new special advisor hasn’t cured it.
Senate Blue Ribbon Chairman Senator Ping Lacson has insightfully suggested that political power over personal vulnerability is the root of material exploitations between the politicians and the engineers and contractors.
His simple personal equation: either the head of the agency knows, which means he is complicit, or he doesn’t, or is incompetent.
The guessing game now is: who goes to jail first, the government engineer, the contractor or the politician?
