Public service is an opportunity presented to a select number of individuals that should be repaid with the highest display of integrity. “A higher calling,” a recently appointed Palace official called it.

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan is making a mockery of his leadership role at the agency, which is mired in the worst corruption scandal involving hundreds of billions of pesos of pilfered public money.

Public outrage peaked during the watch of the late President Noynoy Aquino over the P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam involving legislators. However, the numbers involved in this latest syndicated thievery now total P545 billion, covering flood control projects over three years.

The same cast of characters remains, with senators and members of Congress spearheading institutionalized corruption through the insertion of projects in the DPWH budget.

Bonoan’s response to the opening of Pandora’s Box of corruption initiated by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., through his exposé of the 15 contractors who cornered P100 billion worth of DPWH contracts, was too feeble.

Instead of using the power of government to weed out the corrupt District Engineers and other DPWH officials, Bonoan chose to have them reassigned or, in the most blatant cases, placed on “floating status.”

Bulacan First District Engineer Henry Alcantara, whom Senator Panfilo Lacson exposed as the ringleader behind ghost and other problematic projects in the province and a proven associate of Senator Joel Villanueva, is among those Bonoan placed in the freezer without any other action taken.

Alcantara, along with former Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez, was identified as being behind projects that had identical contract costs despite varying specifications, a tactic to connect the project to a particular member of Congress.

Through the flood of irregularities, not only is Bonoan sinking in ignominy, but so are the President and the entire nation.

Bonoan should muster a sense of honor and resign to save Mr. Marcos from the humiliation of presidential docility as he refuses to act. As President, the people expect him to terminate those in his Cabinet who have failed to perform honorably and well.

Congressional contractors and senatorial funders of graft must be sent a message that they are next in line for a public humiliation. Still, unless the implementers are held accountable, the rotten system will persist.

“Right now, we are a headless chicken, flailing in circles, a sailboat without a rudder, adrift in an ocean of lies, half-truths, and bureaucratic paralysis,” a political analyst said.

Those involved should be guided by delicadeza, or propriety, moral integrity, and sensitivity to public perception, which would require that Bonoan act with dignity and avoid situations that could erode trust, even if he is not directly culpable.

Given the scale of the scandal under his watch, which Bonoan should stop deflecting back to the previous administration, since he has been in the position for three years, a sense of honor requires him to step aside or resign.

Bonoan’s decision to stay, backed by President Marcos, is a signal of political loyalty prevailing over public perception.

Marcos’s strong allegations of economic sabotage being committed in the flood control scandal lack substance, as the head of the agency implementing the shoddy projects remains protected.

The ultimate irony is that his Cabinet members are supposed to be his alter egos, thus Bonoan’s actions reflect the President’s will. Weakness begets weakness.