Who opened Pandora’s Box?

As children, we were warned by way of mythology to exercise restraint and think carefully before doing something forbidden. That was the story of the box entrusted to Pandora by Zeus with a warning that it was never to be opened. Pandora, however, could not resist opening the box, and who can blame her? There is something about the forbidden that makes it particularly hard to resist — only to find out (the hard way) that it can blow up in your face.

The thing with exposés is that they usually take on a life of their own. And the advent of social media and the internet has given a new dimension to the phrase “opening a can of worms.” It does have a tendency to get out of control.

The ongoing controversy which began as a “general wonderment” by the public as to why floods persist despite billions of pesos spent on flood control projects has brought to light unconscionable practices of kickbacks, rigged biddings, and ghost projects within the DPWH.

It’s still unclear who opened the “floodgates” (pun intended!) into the corruption controversy that has driven a wedge between the upper and lower houses of Congress. In the past weeks we have seen mudslinging between and among senators, congressmen, Department of Public Works and Highways officials, and contractors. Whoever spills all the beans and has the juiciest details with corroborating resibo will probably get the best deal (also read as: will be allowed to get away scot-free after plundering the nation’s coffers!).

In an unexpected twist, members of the Duterte bloc in the Senate were left confused and scratching their heads. They have been fools and were blindsided. While they were busy patting their own backs after grilling contractors about kickbacks allegedly delivered to named members of Congress, a successful coup had been launched against Senate President Chiz Escudero and the former majority.

On top of his demotion, Escudero still has a lot of explaining to do after being inextricably linked to Centerways Construction (one of the top contractors for flood control projects) whose president Lawrence Lubiano admitted to making a P30-million campaign contribution to the former’s 2022 Senate run.

But what is the endgame here? Let us all be reminded that the story of Pandora’s box is not just about humanity’s weakness, or our lack of restraint or insatiable greed. Despite all the evil, terrible and horrendous things she unleashed into the world, Pandora found “hope” at the bottom of the box. A little something Zeus slipped inside to allow men to endure all the suffering and ills.

As with each scandal, we, the Filipino people, must remain hopeful that this time there will finally be genuine change and reform. We must be steadfast in holding all government officials (and their families) to account for every centavo picked from our pockets.

Wishful thinking? Perhaps. But if we give up hope for change and resign ourselves to tolerating government officials and contractors who enrich themselves while many continue to struggle just to survive each day, then what is the point of this exercise? More importantly, what will it take for every regular Juan, Maria and JunJun to wake up and be more discerning about whom they should trust and cast their votes for come election time.