Belated ceasefire

It took a while for the Marcos administration, the Senate, and the House of Representatives to realize that they had opened a can of worms that leads to the path of self-destruction. The thing is the problem didn’t even come from the opposition. It was the infighting, greed, and power struggle between factions in the administration bloc that brought about the erosion of the public’s trust in our elected leaders and their ability to govern the nation.

It started with the attempt at “redemption” (read: saving face) after the dismal showing in the midterm polls and following the fingerpointing in the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte that the public sided more with the opposition candidates (instead of admitting their mistake and miscalculation in the rendition to the International Criminal Court of their beloved former president Rodrigo Duterte).

This was followed by the widely applauded shaming of members of Congress and government officials allegedly receiving kickbacks from flood control projects during the State of the Nation Address of President Bongbong Marcos (PBBM): “Mahiya naman kayo!” and the release of the list of the top 15 flood control contractors.

Both houses of Congress launched their respective inquiries in aid of legislation. The explosive allegations of kickbacks resulted in changes in the leadership, first of the Senate, then of the House. Even the Palace was not spared — the Office of the Executive Secretary, Department of Budget and Management, and an undersecretary at the Department of Education were dragged into the controversy.

While the flood control controversy at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee had maintained its momentum, the continuation of its proceedings eventually threatened the fragile majority. As a compromise: Senator Panfilo Lacson relinquished his chairmanship of the BRC along with the tacit agreement to sweep the controversy under the rug… for now.

We will never really know how high up the scheme goes and who else were complicit with the ceasefire in place. It seems the resolution of the flood control controversy will now be left in the hands of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) and the Office of the Ombudsman.

While we continue to see attempts by the pro-Duterte camp to rally and gain traction from the recent public indignation, the series of strong quakes have also taken away focus from the corruption mess.

Disasters highlight the weakness not only of infrastructure but also of governance. It is actually quite providential that the country would be so hard hit at a time when it is reeling from the widespread and unconscionable plundering by corrupt officials who have enriched themselves at the cost of even more suffering of our people. What if even just a fraction of the money pilfered by the “kawatans” were made available and could be used to rebuild the lives and homes of the survivors?

I can only imagine the hopelessness of those affected in the hard-hit quake areas. This is a perfect opportunity for PBBM to show that he can be President not only of Metro Manila or just Luzon but also of the Visayas and of Mindanao.

The Marcos administration should prioritize and take pains in the handling of the many recent disasters that have rocked the country if it wants to regain public trust and confidence. How PBBM will manage and bring about recovery from the recent earthquakes will determine how the votes will be cast in 2028.