If Co becomes merely a tool to purge political opponents while allies are shielded, the cycle of corruption will simply reset under a different name. The real test of the administration’s sincerity lies in whether the investigation follows the money wherever it leads, even to the doorstep of those currently in power.

By late 1944, after two and a half years since the fall of Bataan, it was estimated by Allied intelligence that a million Filipinos were in one way or another part of the guerrilla resistance. These Filipinos held on to hope in a time of hopelessness, maintained courage despite being abandoned, and this is why we remember and commemorate their sacrifice on what is one of the most solemn days in the Philippines, the Day of Valor, or in Filipino, “ang Araw ng Kagitingan”.

The Philippine passport should be a source of pride, a shield of protection, not a badge of suspicion. Every Filipino deserves to see the world without being treated like a criminal just because of where they were born.