A pound of flesh

A pound of flesh | Daily Tribune

The year about to end, 2025, didn’t let up even with the approaching much-anticipated long Christmas and New Year holiday break.

The unexpected passing of former DPWH Undersecretary Catalina Cabral was not only shocking but also mind-boggling. She left those closely following the flood control corruption saga with even more questions and very little hope of getting answers.

The pressure was mounting on the administration to deliver on its promise of some “big fish” spending time in prison, even making a fuss over inspecting detention cells for them. Pronouncements that sitting and former members of both houses of Congress would definitely be spending Christmas in jail.

But a day before Christmas, we have only seen low to mid-level DPWH officials and some contractors being processed and ferried to their detention cells. With the exception of “high profile” contractor Sarah Discaya’s recent arrest for a Davao Occidental ghost project, so far, they are all from DPWH Region IV-B (Mimaropa) for allegedly substandard projects in Mindoro.

And what about the ghost projects in Bulacan? Didn’t the Blue Ribbon Committee spend an inordinate amount of time on the Bulacan DPWH projects and, yet, only those involved in the alleged Mindoro substandard and Davao Occidental ghost projects have been arrested.

Much as they try to convince the public that Sarah Discaya is big enough to appease the public clamor for accountability, she is nothing more than what Janet Napoles was to the PDAF scam.

At least in the PDAF case, we did see some senators spend a considerable amount of time in detention (though later freed). Albeit not in regular lock-up conditions as other ordinary accused awaiting trial, nonetheless, they were deprived of liberty and (what we assume) luxuries they were accustomed to.

Sadly, in their frantic attempts to stop it from imploding, the Marcos administration has lost its focus due to a mess of its own making. Imagine having to undergo a reorganization in the middle of its six-year term. Now it has to reset the administration. But at what cost and at whose expense?

Going into 2026, the government still has not achieved significant accomplishments worthy of lauding and remembering this administration for fondly. Instead, it is most noted for this massive pilferage and theft of the people’s money. Another Marcos administration to go down in history for plundering the coffers and greedy politicians lining their pockets with the people’s hard-earned money.

Meanwhile, most Filipinos can barely make ends meet.

We want accountability, yes. But this administration should be able to deliver justice without losing sight of its role to improve every Juan’s, Maria’s, and JunJun’s quality of life. Instead, the government has been paralyzed by this flood control scandal and this fixation on the national budget.

The Marcos administration and Congress have long stopped worrying about what they can do to better the lives of our people and grow our nation. They now only worry about their political survival. They have lost sight of their mandates and what matters most: WE, the Filipino people.

With the holiday season upon us. The break from all the endless political bickering should be a welcome respite not only for those who have become embroiled in the corruption scandal but for all Filipinos who have gone through so much this year.

But make no mistake, it is only a break. The Filipino people will expect and exact their pound of flesh.