The prosecution’s debacle
When the powerful are released and the witnesses are silenced, the message is unmistakable: the system protects its own.
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When the powerful are released and the witnesses are silenced, the message is unmistakable: the system protects its own.
The Sandiganbayan Second Division has denied the Ombudsman’s motion to drop the graft charge against former DPWH chief Manuel Bonoan. The prosecution had sought to turn him into a state witness to strengthen the case against former Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The court ruled that dropping Bonoan would prejudice his co-accused, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, by altering the charge from a conspiracy to an individual liability. The ruling effectively blocks the Ombudsman’s plan to use Bonoan’s “institutional knowledge” to pin down bigger fish.
While he may later be discharged to be a state witness for the prosecution, Bonoan will currently remain an accused.
The Romualdez camp touted the development as affirmation of their position that Bonoan would not make a credible witness. Progressive groups said that making Bonoan a state witness “rewards bad behavior.” Bonoan, 80 years old and under hospital arrest, was thought to be the key that would unlock the flood control conspiracy.
Consider the broader picture.
Last year, President Marcos declared before the nation: “Mahiya naman kayo,” addressing alleged corrupt government officials and private contractors. He vowed to put them all behind bars.
In his fifth SoNA last month, he announced nearly P25 billion recovered and promised reforms. But just days later, former senator Bong Revilla, an administration ally who lost his reelection bid in 2025, walked free after six months in detention.
The President has made a point of repeatedly reminding everyone that the flood control irregularities did not begin under his administration. Never mind that it persisted under it.
Marcos Jr. has insisted on pointing fingers at the Duterte administration or the House. But accountability is also owed to the Filipinos by no less than the President himself. After all, the buck stops at his desk.
The cousin is the sacrificial offering expected to take one for the team. Meanwhile, any and all mentions implicating the First Family or the presidential son are conveniently swept under the rug.
When the powerful are released and the witnesses are silenced, the message is unmistakable: the system protects its own.
Revilla still owes the government P124.5 million from his pork barrel plunder case. Eight years later, the money has not been returned. Perhaps, the former senator and famed actor seems to lead a charmed life. His co-accused rot in detention while he is able to post “God is good” on Facebook.
The flood control scandal looks to be this administration’s defining moment. President Marcos is expected to hold everyone accountable, regardless of family or political affiliation. And not only his cousin, but his son has been implicated.
Instead, we see a familiar pattern: the powerful walk, the weak and powerless stay behind bars, and the ordinary Filipino struggles with everyday hardships. Again, more empty promises ringing hollow or broken.
The prosecution of high-profile personalities has yielded more headlines than convictions. When bail is granted because of insufficiency of evidence and the accused are freed, the Ombudsman’s whole-of-government approach becomes a whole-of-government failure.
The floodwaters will keep threatening to rise. The roads will remain flooded during torrential rains. Homes and livelihoods will be submerged. Lives will be lost.
But the officials who profited from the ghost projects will be either abroad or out on bail.
Maybe under hospital arrest.
Meanwhile, most continue to sit in office. The Filipino people deserve much more than this laughable theater of accountability. We deserve justice served on a silver platter. But justice, it seems, is a luxury reserved for those who can afford it — or those who sit in the halls of power.
