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In cases of this scale, attempts to muddy the record are not incidental. They are a predictable response by those with the most to lose. Confusion over affidavits, timelines and sworn statements can slow investigations, weaken cases and erode public confidence long before any issue reaches a courtroom.
Ultimately, the true test will lie not in promises or procedures, but in implementation. How transparently the realigned funds are spent, and whether anti-corruption measures are enforced without fear or favor, will determine whether 2026 marks a break from the past, or merely another year haunted by ghost projects.
The numbers and assurances alone do not sustain credibility. What the public now demands is consistency, urgency and unmistakable political will. Without them, the promise of accountability risks dissolving into yet another anticlimax, another corruption scandal that begins with fire and ends in smoke.
If the 2026 budget is truly pork-free, then lawmakers should finally be liberated to do what the Constitution mandates: legislate.
Restoring its funding is the right step, but it must also serve as a warning. Disaster preparedness cannot be switched on only after lives are lost and communities destroyed. It is a moral obligation of governance.
When viewed together, the legal stalling at The Hague and the coordinated political pressure at home reveal a strategy designed not only to shield the former president from accountability. The Duterte camp appears to be buying time as part of a broader gambit aimed at weakening the Marcos administration and clearing space for a Sara Duterte takeover before the ICC can weigh the evidence against her father.
Filipinos are tired of leaders who demand trust yet refuse transparency, who promise accountability yet shield their own, who speak of readiness yet offer no vision beyond survival and spite. If Sara Duterte insists she is "ready," the public has every right to ask: ready for what — another round of secrecy, showmanship and selective outrage?
"The flood control projects worth billions and billions of pesos could have saved so many lives if it had gone to our public hospitals, to PhilHealth benefits. It could have saved so many young children from dying of malnutrition."
While Marcos appears sincere in getting to the bottom of the trillion-peso flood control scandal, his part in approving the questionable insertions in the budget and the release of funds for projects that turned out to be inexistent cannot be ignored. Perhaps the time is ripe for the president to acknowledge negligence and be forthright in admitting his faults.
In our struggles to overcome the severe problems and difficulties caused by a string of natural disasters, we should keenly observe how our leaders, from the barangay to the national government, have contributed to our sufferings or how they’re addressing our needs. Keep them in mind until the 2028 elections.
