The revelations of the scale of corruption at the Department of Public Works and Highways, in collusion with Congressmen and Senators, that were exposed during the Senate investigation into the flood control anomalies, are mind blowing, but not exactly surprising for those of us who have long assumed that the cost of corruption in this country is anywhere from at least 10 percent to 30 percent of the annual national budget.
For the longest time, a lot of us already knew that corruption had become really bad in this country. After all, how could it not get worse after the Ombudsman himself decrees that a public official’s statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN), should not be made public? With the government office that is supposed to protect the public interest more interested in protecting corrupt officials, it was automatic that the corruption in this country would worsen.
And if you come to think of it, corruption is not just in the anomalous flood control projects by the DPWH. Those are just the easiest to pull off because such projects are mega in value, but generally out of sight and out of mind.
According to the testimony of dismissed Bulacan First District assistant engineer Brice Hernandez, corroborated by the contractor who was caught with their hands in the cookie jar Curlee Discaya, every project undertaken by their group had a percentage automatically taken away for corruption.
Are we really going to tell ourselves that the corruption is only in DPWH flood control projects and only in Bulacan? Is the scam that was detailed by Hernandez the exception when it comes to government contracts, or is it the rule? Flood control projects may be the most ‘profitable’ at 25-30%, but according to Hernandez, at least 10% is stolen for all of their projects. For the DPWH, that means everything they build: roads, bridges, buildings, classrooms.
Aside from the DPWH, other government agencies that have been long known/suspected to be ultra corrupt are the Bureaus of Customs, Internal Revenue, and Immigration. From our experience with the Pharmally scandal, even the Department of Health was in on it, taking advantage of the COVID pandemic to steal billions.
And how about the legislators/proponents? Are there only just a few of them involved, or are the alleged shenanigans of Congressman Zaldy Co and ex-House Speaker Martin Romualdez, and Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Joel Villanueva, Chiz Escudero, Nancy Binay, and Bong Revilla just the tip of the massive corruption iceberg that is slowly sinking the ill-fated MV Pilipinas?
The billions of pesos siphoned away by the flood control projects under government officials like Brice Hernandez and his boss Henry Alcantara is just for one DPWH engineering district. According to a quick internet search, the DPWH has at least 211 engineering districts, with Negros Occidental alone having 6. Are we really going to believe that only 1 is corrupt? If you come to think of it, it is even possible that Bulacan, which is under the spotlight and microscope right now, is not yet even the most corrupt.
And because it takes two to tango, we also must take a long, hard look at the proponents, who by definition, make it all possible. How many corrupt congressmen does this country have? Just two? Really? If the Senate investigation has already tagged 5 of its own as being involved in the corruption, with 2 probable repeat offenders (yay to the Pinoy voter), then surely there must be more such crocodiles in both houses of representatives, right? That’s just the law of averages and common sense at work.
The big question now is: who else is also corrupt? And how do we ensure that everyone else in government or working with it isn’t in on the corruption that is eating up our nation and stealing our hard earned and easily withheld taxes?
That is a question that can only be answered if all public officials were obligated to explain their wealth, before and after becoming part of government. It’s not convenient, but it should be of great interest to the public, especially during these times, and that should be part of the contract and burden of deciding to serve a country that has been so terribly raped by plunderers.
Is the SALN, if ever it is made public, enough to do that, or do we need something with more eyes, like a bank secrecy waiver, and more teeth like the power to investigate, imprison, and confiscate ill gotten wealth? Shouldn’t the government have its own corruption watchdog that analyzes SALN trends, conducts lifestyle checks, and verifies sources of income? Why does the private sector have to do it, if ever?
Although it would be nice, we cannot ask them all to resign. The only thing we can do is tighten the requirements for them to “serve.” Every candidate, new or old, has to file an expanded SALN, one that allows their exact financial standing to be analyzed and tracked throughout their career. I know that the regular voter will probably not bother with such an analysis, but if such info is somehow made accessible, the smart ones among us can hopefully find ways to dumb it down and provide the necessary information on the potential for corruption of any candidate or government official, elected or otherwise.*
