In Chinese tradition, a 12-year cycle of events, embodied in the zodiac, appears to dictate recurring patterns. For Filipinos, it seems to have marked the repetition of abuse by public officials in their pursuit of pork barrel funds.
In 2013, following revelations of large-scale budget theft, the Supreme Court voided the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for violating constitutional provisions.
A dozen years later, the comparison between former Department of Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Cathy Cabral — alleged architect of budget insertions under the allocables scheme — and pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles is unavoidable.
Both were accused of engineering dubious schemes involving crooks in Congress and the Executive branch.
In both cases, the scandal centered on the misuse of public funds intended for infrastructure and development, involving the diversion or improper allocation of government budgets.
Napoles orchestrated the PDAF scam, funneling billions of pesos in lawmakers’ pork barrel funds through sham non-governmental organizations and ghost projects in agriculture and infrastructure.
Cabral, meanwhile, was accused of facilitating budget insertions and manipulating allocable funds in DPWH flood-control projects, resulting in overpriced, substandard, or nonexistent infrastructure worth hundreds of billions of pesos each year.
The tactics were eerily similar, echoing the ghost project playbook perfected during the Napoles era.
The difference lies in scale. While the PDAF scam involved an estimated P10 billion, the flood- control scandal linked to Cabral — totaling more than P1 trillion over three years — dwarfs it. By comparison, the Napoles scam now looks like petty change.
Napoles relied on a network of politicians, officials, and intermediaries to approve and release funds, leading to charges of graft, malversation, and bribery against her and her cohorts, including lawmakers.
Cabral operated in the same league. As a senior DPWH official, she was allegedly central to the handling of budget allocations under the allocables scheme.
Her case was further clouded by her gruesome death, which raised suspicions due to its timing at the height of the flood-control investigation. While probes continue, including possible forfeiture cases, her death has complicated the pursuit of accountability.
Twelve years should have been enough for public officials to learn respect for the budget process. Instead, delays and acquittals that frustrated Napoles-era justice efforts appear to have emboldened a new generation of operators.
Both scandals deepened public distrust. The Napoles case led to the abolition of the PDAF and budget reforms. The Cabral allocables mystery, exploiting loopholes in the law, continues to widen as congressional involvement complicates accountability.
Today, the Independent Commission for Infrastructure is no longer functioning, while the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee appears uninterested, as it has become evident that most senators have insertions in the 2025 budget.
If the Napoles probe moved grudgingly and spared many allies of the administration at the time, the Cabral mystery risks being buried permanently — another dark chapter in a system that has turned the machinery of government into a pilferage mafia.