A red moon hung above our heads as Monday exploded with lies laid bare — or at least that’s what it seemed at the time. The next day, more bombshells were hurled, but fortunately, thinking minds were already running over with more questions.
For a time since ordinary Pinoys got a whiff of the enormous anomalous dealings within a department of government, all that people wanted to hear were the names involved. Who were they — the ones in the shadows, the ones behind those dastardly schemes to rob the nation?
When the names rolled off that Discaya list on Monday, a few got over the shock enough to investigate whether there was any truth to the couple’s allegations. Let’s face it, at this point in the hearings, Curlee and Sarah Discaya’s credibility is shot, with their nemesis Mayor Vico Sotto asserting that they are “capable of lying.”
Well, who isn’t? Short of sinless Mama Mary whose nativity feast was on 8 September — the day also that Senator Tito Sotto replaced Chiz Escudero as Senate President and hearings in both houses of Congress began to ring in our ears — we can safely say everyone is capable of lying.
Yet while we can try to assert who is the least guilty or the most guilty in plunder cases as big as the ones we have had the misfortune of knowing, there are lies that will be unforgivable even to the very forgiving Filipino people.
To say that trust in the justice system is abysmal would be telling it as it is nowadays. Filipinos have many times endured the effects of misused funds which could have helped improve their lives.
Think ZTE, PDAF, Pharmally. A question was recently raised by a retired judge who now devotes his time to helping the needy: what happened after these scandals broke out? Sure, the obvious personalities went behind bars, but many continue to believe the “most guilty” — aka public officials with power over the money — were never brought to account. In fact, some of them went ahead and still got elected.
Representative Toby Tiangco’s testimony on Monday gave viewers a clue as to how billions of the people’s pesos are funneled in secret by devious minds. Sickening is the understatement on learning that the thievery is more rampant and bolder than ever.
The gall of a supposed people’s representative calling a senator to suggest a collusion for corruption. The brazenness of district engineers and contractors short-changing the people around them. How can they stand seeing the despair of the people who lose so much to floods?
And that is just one department. Social media is an initial window into suspicious activities and possibly questionable deals involving government funds, the easiest route of which is through procurement procedures in emergency situations. The pandemic gave us that lesson, but it is, like many controversies, unfinished business.
For citizens who pay their taxes and countries that extend funding support to our nation, these revelations are rage-inducing, yes, but more than anything, they are disappointing. After all the heroism that we thought defined who we are as a nation, it is clear that we are delusional.
The blood moon on Monday bared some truths, but we must keep asking questions. Heads must roll.