New year, no more excuses

The new year has a way of sharpening expectations. The fireworks fade, the calendar flips, and whatever “grace period” people were willing to extend over the holidays quietly expires. That is very much the mood right now when it comes to corruption and this administration’s promise to deal with it.

Back in early November, President Bongbong Marcos sounded confident, even emphatic.

Those responsible for the massive flood control corruption, he said, would be behind bars by Christmas. It was a bold statement, and to be fair, it was not entirely empty. Several DPWH officials have since been arrested. Two contractors were detained, including Sarah Discaya, one half of the now infamous couple whose name has become synonymous with excess and entitlement. Those are not nothing.

But let’s be honest. That is not what most Filipinos had in mind when they heard “behind bars by Christmas.”

What people are still waiting for are the big fish. The elected officials. The senators and congressmen whose names have come up repeatedly in testimony, leaks and investigative reports. Months of hearings and revelations have made one thing clear. The flood control scam was not a low-level operation run by a handful of rogue bureaucrats. It was systemic, political, and well-protected. And yet, as the year turns, none of the prominent political figures linked to it have been charged, much less jailed.

Instead, December brought developments that only intensified the public’s impatience. The sudden death of former DPWH Undersecretary Cathy Cabral shocked the nation and raised troubling questions about who stands to benefit from her silence.

Then came the so-called DPWH leaks, which pointed fingers at Vice President Sara Duterte, her brother, Representative Paolo Duterte, and even former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque. These were not obscure names. These were people at the heart of power over the last several years.

And yet, as of today, they, and others previously named, remain untouched.

Now that the Christmas season is over, whatever indulgence the people might have been willing to grant the government over the holidays is gone. There are no more excuses about timing, sensitivity, or letting institutions “do their work” at their own pace. The work has been done.

Names have been named. Documents have surfaced. Patterns have been exposed. Every additional day without charges only deepens the sense that something is being withheld.

Worse, every photo of implicated politicians and their families flaunting luxury, every casual social media post showing business as usual, pours gasoline on the public anger. We Filipinos are not stupid. We see the contrast. We see the arrests of mid-level officials alongside the continued freedom of those who appear to have benefited the most. And we are angry.

Make no mistake, this will not simply blow over.

If the administration thinks time will dull the outrage, it is badly misreading the moment. We have already seen how quickly frustration can spill onto the streets. We have seen rallies grow and patience evaporate. This is not just about flood control money anymore. It is about whether accountability in this country has a ceiling.

The President still has an opportunity here. He can prove that his promise was not just empty rhetoric. He can show that anti-corruption does not stop where political convenience begins. But that window will not stay open forever.

A new year has begun. The people are waiting. And the demand is no longer polite or patient. It is blunt and unambiguous. Jail the corrupt. Or be prepared for the outrage to come knocking much closer to home.