What’s next, beyond protest actions?

Last Sunday, the country witnessed a significant display of public discontent through massive protest activities, notably the Trillion Peso March, which converged on the EDSA People Power Monument and the Baha sa Luneta.

Thousands of Filipinos gathered at those and other locations around the country to voice their outrage over the gross corruption involved in public-funded flood control projects.

The protest actions underscored the growing frustration of Filipinos from all walks of life who see their taxes, amounting to billions of pesos, misused or embezzled through ghost and substandard public works projects.

The mass demonstrations served as a stark reminder that corruption not only hampers development but also jeopardizes the lives of the most vulnerable Filipinos, especially during calamities.

Most of all, they were manifestations of a woke people stirred to show their disgust and outrage over the shameless corruption of politicians and public officials who have stuffed their pockets from the implementation of substandard flood control and other public works projects.

Protest actions are crucial to raising awareness and rallying public sentiment to a cause, but these are only the first steps toward the end goal of all these movements, which is tangible change.

After the demonstrations last weekend, there must be a resolute effort to translate this momentum into concrete actions. This includes strengthening existing legal mechanisms and continuing the probes until all the corruption-ridden parties are exposed, tried and prosecuted, even as the government must ensure that whistleblowers and all others calling for justice are protected from intimidation or retaliation.

Transparency initiatives, such as the real-time monitoring of public funds and increased accountability within government agencies, are vital to prevent the future misuse of national resources.

Furthermore, pursuing systemic reforms, enforcing strict anti-corruption laws, and empowering independent bodies such as the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) are essential steps towards ridding the government of corruption.

Which brings us to the ICI, created by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to investigate the anomalies in flood control and other DPWH projects, and the person appointed to head it, retired Supreme Court Justice Andres Reyes Jr.

Not a few are wondering why he was particularly chosen by the President to chair the ICI.

Reyes was appointed by former President Rodrigo Duterte to the SC in 2017. In 2018, he was nominated for Chief Justice upon the retirement of Teresita Leonardo de Castro.

The voting record of any SC Chief Justice nominee is laid bare for public review, as it should now be for someone mandated to uncover the massively rampant corruption and collusion of politicians with the DPWH.

The corrupt practices of politicians and DPWH officials are no secret, but there has never been a public clamor as loud, as widespread and as insistent as now. And this time, those raising a ruckus are vociferously focused on demanding one thing — accountability.

Not a few, particularly those familiar with Reyes’ voting record in the High Court, are wondering if he is the best man to head the ICI.

For instance, one of the most controversial cases brought before the SC was the question of whether the arrest of Duterte arch foe, former Senator Leila de Lima, was valid or not.

To recall, in 2019, De Lima, who had been Human Rights Commission chief, had then Davao City Mayor Duterte probed for extrajudicial killings allegedly committed by the so-called Davao Death Squad, with some DDS operatives and barangay officials pointing to Duterte as having directly given orders to execute mostly persons allegedly connected to illegal drugs.

Voting on De Lima’s case, Reyes affirmed the validity of her arrest, thus De Lima languished in jail, only to be exonerated of all charges after seven long years.

There, too, was the case of a Duterte critic, then SC Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who was ejected from the SC based on a quo warranto proceeding challenging her right to hold the position in the High Court.

The vote against Sereno was 8-6, with Reyes (along with current Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and de Castro, who replaced Sereno as chief justice) among those who elected to boot Sereno out of the SC.

In the 2018 plunder case against Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, which involved his pocketing of pork barrel funds by allocating resources to bogus NGOs in the Janet Napoles scam, four justices — including Reyes — dissented while six upheld Estrada’s indictment by the Ombudsman.

Not a few are wondering now — if there is incontrovertible evidence showing Estrada had corrupted himself in the flood control mess — how Reyes, as ICI chairman, would deal with Estrada this time.

Mass demonstrations are powerful expressions of dissent, but beyond rallies and other forms of protest action, genuine change can only be achieved through resolute action, that is, by arresting, trying and jailing the corrupt, whoever and however powerful they may be.

Nothing less will appease an angered people who are hungry for justice. May those in a position to effect real change be so reminded and have the people’s best interests at heart to once and for all cleanse their country of the rot of corruption.