Infernally incompetent?

It’s hard to believe that former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan was clueless about the so-called “SOP” in the “pie-sharing of funds” in infrastructure projects during his term.

In the latest Senate hearing, Bonoan insisted that he knew nothing and “relied” on the office of the late DPWH Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral — she who can no longer tell tales, let alone deny or corroborate.

Earlier revelations at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee highlighted the disturbing fact that this was “systematic corruption” --- that we could take to mean has been going on long enough for it to have become “systematic.”

It also became obvious that no actual checks were done, or if any, were perhaps cursory.

Otherwise, the number of ghost projects would not have bloated to hundreds before anyone noticed. In fact, it seems no one noticed anything suspicious until it all came out through Senate inquiries into the anomalous flood control projects.

It was also pointed out last year, for example, in evaluating the DPWH budget for 2026, that its Convergence and Special Support Program had “unusually large annual increases from 2023 to 2025,” notably “from P174.088 billion in the 2024 National Expenditure Program to P410.91 billion in the General Appropriations Act.”

There were “identically named projects but with differing amounts,” which could have been “double appropriations.”

The work of heads of agencies managing the flow of billions of pesos of the country’s finances entails a more meticulous approach than what we have seen so far, such that the average Juan may expect a Cabinet official like Bonoan to at least be aware of the goings-on under his watch.

Was he, like the former Budget chief, only limited to signing papers because their team had already read them? Is everyone in government infernally incompetent?

At this point, it seems the man is more concerned with saving himself from incarceration, even if it means being perceived as the idiot amid a sea of corrupt geniuses.

This is exactly why Filipinos are rapidly losing their trust and confidence in any politician or government official — whether it is a barangay captain who tells a resident he cannot do anything about the vandals defacing building facades because the vandals are “from another barangay;” to the agency spokesperson who berates people complaining about a new rule because he simply does not know real life on the ground; to a department secretary who says he had no idea his people were doing something seriously harmful to the Filipino people; all the way up to the top honcho who says he had no clue. It is, to say the least, simply amazing.

So these Senate investigations are turning out to be a farce given the unfunny retractions, the obvious subterfuge and silent panic reverberating through the halls of power now unveiled as corruption hubs. Will it end like smoke disappearing into the air? Will there ever be any teeth to our justice system?

It appears the guilty parties are prepared to wait it out until the controversy loses steam or another issue comes along, even if they must hide for as long as it takes, or play the idiot card with a smile on their faces.