Rallyists: Moves vs corruption fall short

The arrest and the filing of cases against figures implicated in the anomalous flood control projects are not enough to pinpoint accountability, an organizer of the anti-corruption Trillion Peso March said.  

Kiko Aquino Dee, a grandson of former Senator Ninoy Aquino and former President Cory Aquino, who is the spokesperson of the group said the recent actions of the government as well as the return of P110 million in cash by former Department of Public Works and Highways engineer Henry Alcanta were not enough to do justice for the widespread corruption that was uncovered. 

“One call of the protest action is to lock up the corrupt officials. Okay, there are those who were caught who are not high-ranking officials, but the heads of various agencies who are not, or who are involved in the anomaly, have not been locked up or have not been charged; therefore, we are not satisfied with the imprisonment of officials,” Dee said.

Dee urged the government to file forfeiture cases as these charges do not need a prior filing of criminal cases in order to be pursued. 

Peaceful protests 

Dee said the protest rallies on 30 November will be peaceful in nature.  

“Although we respect the call to resign, our coalition is not there yet,” he said. 

He pointed out the protests will call for full transparency under existing laws such as the Freedom of Information Act, and the measures filed in Congress establishing an Independent Commission for Infrastructure not under the influence of Malacañang. 

“We do not support any unconstitutional call such as a military junta or revolutionary government,” he said. 

The public must defeat the political dynasties which enable corruption promoted by families who are in power, he added. 

Rally organizers expect a crowd size similar to the first rally in September which drew 80,000, according to police. But now with more time and preparation, Dee said they anticipate a crowd size of 120,000 or more. 

End impunity, cut corruption

Meanwhile, former Senate president Franklin Drilon said a “culture of impunity” is fueling the massive corruption in which government officials and even ordinary citizens defy the law. 

The justice system’s persistent failure to hold wrongdoers to account has allowed impunity to thrive, the veteran legislator said.

“This is a culture of impunity. Our people have grown unafraid of the law — it no longer carries weight for them. These things happen because no one is being jailed, a consequence of the failures in our justice system,” he said.

“The rallies today should make the people in government feel that this investigation must be pursued and that they owe the public a clear explanation of what is really happening. We absolutely cannot let this be forgotten,” he stressed.

He sid that those in power seem unafraid to commit wrongdoing since they rarely face consequences.

“Those in power no longer fear engaging in corruption. In my view, that is the root cause of all this,” he said.