Seldom do we see gatherings such as yesterday’s “Baha sa Luneta” and “Trillion Peso March” on EDSA, with a broad range of people participating and sharing a common call for public accountability.
It was a rare occasion when the Civil Service Commission gave the go-signal to government employees to take part in the anti-corruption protest rallies initiated by church-based, people’s organizations, activist groups and the academic community.
Even President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he supports protests against the widespread corruption in government, particularly in flood control projects, adding that he would have joined the demonstrations if he were not the president.
Four days prior to the Sept. 21 rallies, Martin Romualdez resigned as House speaker. The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) has convened and begun inspecting some of the allegedly anomalous projects. The Senate and the House of Representatives have continued with their respective legislative investigations amid questions on their credibility, with some of the legislators embroiled in the scandal.
Public Works secretary Manuel Bonoan and undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral have resigned. Newly appointed Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon has fired Bulacan first district engineering head Henry Alcantara and his assistant Brice Ericson Hernandez, construction section chief Jaypee Mendoza and accountant Juanito Mendoza. They are facing administrative charges such as disloyalty, grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
Corruption complaints have been filed at the Office of the Ombudsman against 20 DPWH officials and five private contractors allegedly involved in the anomalous flood control projects in Bulacan, specifically involving the full payment for unfinished or non-existent infrastructures.
Alcantara, Hernandez, Mendoza and contractor Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya have been detained in custody after they were held in contempt for not being truthful in their testimonies during the legislative inquiries.
We’ve seen similar episodes in 2013 when thousands of Filipinos took to the streets against the P10-billion pork barrel scandal in which some lawmakers’ allocations were diverted to dubious non-governmental organizations for projects such as fertilizer procurement and farm-to-market roads in urban areas. Investigations of that scandal resulted in resignations and the detention of three senators, who were eventually acquitted or released on bail.
Also, a 2007 World Bank investigation of anomalies involving road projects under the National Rural Infrastructure and Maintenance Program created noise that led to a Senate probe in early 2009. The WB report released in 2008 said its probe “uncovered evidence of a major cartel involving local and international firms bidding on contracts.” The modus then was similar to what we are hearing now with regard to flood control projects.
Then resigned public works secretary Florante Soriquez and 16 other officials faced charges of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and other offenses after the Office of the Ombudsman found documentary evidence linking them to anomalous biddings for the road projects.
One thing common in the anomalous World Bank-funded road projects, the P10-billion pork barrel diversions by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles and the current flood control scandal was the apparent collusion among private contractors, legislators and other government officials. Only this time, the amounts involved are way bigger, and those involved have become more brazen.
As President Marcos said in a recent podcast, “It did not happen overnight. This happened over many decades.” He added: “I cannot give you a complete answer to how did we get here. The simplistic answer will be dahil pinabayaan. It became allowable… OK lang, it was normalized.”
The big question that begs an answer is — will Marcos be true to his word that no one will be spared from an independent investigation into alleged anomalies in infrastructure projects?
Was he happy enough with the resignation of his first cousin, Martin Romualdez, who is perceived to be the brains behind the P1.45 trillion worth of insertions in the annual national government program from 2022 to 2025? How will he treat the senators and congressmen allegedly behind the widespread corruption through the budget insertions?
Yesterday’s mammoth crowd at Luneta and EDSA made it clear that the protests were not anti-Marcos, but it was neither a show of support for the president, as a pro-Duterte blogger claimed. It was an expression of the mounting call against corruption and a demand for accountability. Marcos was also called out to make sure that the guilty are held accountable and sent to jail. The warning was clear: the people are watching.
Groups allied with former president Rodrigo Duterte had their own gatherings in Davao City and near Gate 4 of Camp Crame in Quezon City. They claimed it was also anti-corruption, but they were also demanding the resignation of Marcos Jr. and the return of the former president from detention at The Hague.
What will the Sept. 21 rallies, which coincided with the commemoration of the 53rd anniversary of the declaration of martial law by Ferdinand Marcos Sr., bring about for the country?
In Marcos’ last two state of the nation addresses, he said that good economic data are useless if a majority of the Filipinos are still suffering. He promised to give his all and to listen more to the people to ease their sufferings.
With regard to the flood control sandal, the president vowed: “Sa mga susunod na buwan, makakasuhan ang lahat ng mga lalabas na may sala mula sa imbestigasyon. Pati na ang mga kasabwat na kontratista sa buong bansa. Kailangan malaman ng taong-bayan ang buong katotohanan. Kailangang may managot sa naging matinding pinsala at katiwalian.”
Mr. president, the people are watching with eagle eyes and eagerly waiting for more decisive actions from your end.
Where do we go from here?
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of VERA Files.
This column also appeared in The Manila Times.
