I may have spoken too soon. Perhaps it was wishful thinking on my part that the movers and shakers of this administration would find it in their hearts to set aside personal grudges and ambition for the greater good of accomplishing something of significant positive impact that could change how the ordinary Filipinos live their lives going into the second half of President Ferdinand “BongBong” Marcos Jr.’s six-year term. But this may be too much to ask even if “para sa bayan (for the country).”

Just a day after the State of the Nation Address, the congressman from Navotas, Toby Tiangco, launched a fresh tirade against the leadership of the House of Representatives. In an ambush interview, Tiangco all but confirmed the allegations of Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong on the 7-7-7 scheme implemented during the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Caravan (BPSC).

As a recap, the 7-7-7 scheme refers to an alleged P7-million allocation for either the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) or the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP); P7-M for the Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients (MAIP); and P7-M for the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD), for a total of P21 million for every congressman who participated and attended a BPSC event.

Congressman Tiangco even dared the solons to show the texts evincing the scheme to incentivize the solons to attend and bring their hakot (crowd) to the BPSC events in their areas. He further alleged that the scheme was akin to a pork barrel allocation which had been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. But that matter is best questioned and argued before the proper courts.

Some of these ayuda (aid) programs are redundant if not unsustainable in the long term. That said, if the intention is to sincerely question the legality of these programs and the way these are allocated, then perhaps Rep. Tiangco should take it upon himself to question these programs before the Supreme Court.

Posturing before the media will not work. Neither will it result in positive media mileage for him or the so-called independent bloc he belongs to because the masses who benefit from these ayuda programs are unlikely to sympathize with his sentiments. Hence, the lack of traction on the issue with the general public.

What puzzles me is why anyone would use this issue against the House leadership and its members. Surely, they realize that, assuming the allegations about the scheme were true, these lead back to the Palace as it ultimately would have redounded to the benefit of the President, i.e., to ensure success and the attendance of constituents at the BPSC events nationwide. Ergo, these allegations are more damaging to the Palace than the House.

Toby Tiangco just sounds like a sore loser at this point. Worse, what he is doing (or saying) is slowly eroding whatever little credibility he still has left after his disappointing stint as campaign manager for the Bagong Alyansa and his foiled bid for the speakership of the 20th Congress (after failing to capitalize on the allegedly unsanctioned impeachment complaint filed by Congress against Vice President Sara Duterte).

It doesn’t help that the keen, prying eyes of politiko observers have noticed that Toby and his wife, Michelle Romualdez-Yap, were conspicuously absent from last Sunday’s weekly family lunch hosted by the President and the First Lady at the Palace, where reelected Speaker for the 20th Congress Martin Romualdez was present.