It is very curious how often the Marcos administration is caught with its pants down. Juicy tidbits about the inner workings of the administration are “leaked” ahead of official announcements, sometimes before a plausible sanitized narrative had been carefully crafted for public consumption.

It is uncertain though if the leaks are symptomatic of the perceived instability and dissatisfaction within their ranks or simply the result of having too many “Marites” in government eager to brag about their privity to the latest goings on in the Palace to demonstrate their closeness and proximity to the power brokers.

As far as the public interest goes, transparency is a must. But while transparency is welcome, the unauthorized and ill-timed leaks of sensitive information reeks of inefficiency in governance and the disrespect for confidentiality in some aspects of the government process.

Take, for instance, the recent revelation that former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials who were front and center of the flood control controversy were recanting their incriminating statements against some incumbent and former senators.

Who is (or are) “leaking” this information? And more importantly, why are we hearing these rumors through the “Marites” channel? Too many times have “rumors” and blind items been later confirmed unwittingly or otherwise.

It’s quite possible the information was shared precisely in the hope of gaining some traction on the issue against the senators dragged into the controversy. If so, it’s succeeded in “leading” the public back to speculating again on why, despite the bold declarations by no less than the President himself that some “big fish” would be spending the holidays in jail, they are still enjoying their unfettered freedom instead of languishing in detention to mull over their actions.

It’s also possible that the revelations could be a strategy to gain more leverage for the “whistleblowers” for a better deal instead of being left to absorb all the flak and be forgotten like Janet Napoles was in the PDAF scam.

Let’s face it, as long as they can make the controversy stay relevant, the former DPWH officials continue to have cards to play to get a chance to come out of the whole fiasco better than Janet Napoles did.

The closer we get to the 2028 presidential elections, the more heated the proxy wars between the warring Marcos and Duterte factions will get. To some extent, it’s going to be worse with those within the Marcos administration as they have the brewing infighting that is threatening to blow up at any time.

The presence of “sleeper” opposition sympathizers — political butterflies notorious for changing sides depending on who is in power — is not helping the present political climate. So we can expect that the Hernandezes, Alcantaras and Discayas of the biggest corruption scandal post-EDSA revolution will be crucial to the political survival (or demise) of many key personalities.

As for the Palace, they really should run a tighter ship. Someone there isn’t doing a great job of containing potentially damaging information from the public. Transparency is one thing, but confidentiality and executive privilege should be respected and protected, too.

Ultimately, the public must learn to be more discerning of the narratives presented to them about issues hounding the administration as we draw closer to the new survey season in preparation for the 2028 national elections.