Incremental gains

Often enough, those of us fighting for good governance become our own worst enemies. We demand purity among those doing battle against evil.

That’s human nature, I guess. Even Christ had to admonish his disciples in Mark 9:40 that “whoever is not against us is for us.” Jesus is saying that someone acting in his name, is not an enemy but an ally.

Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan were demonized for compromising with the enemies. Never mind that their move was strategic to maximize their effectiveness in a Senate populated by greedy, self-serving politicians.

There are some who are trying to bring down Vince Dizon, citing his association with Alan Peter Cayetano and his magic palayok at Clark. I can understand the skepticism but would let that pass so long as I can see Vince delivering results we need now.

I do not know Vince that well but the few times I interacted with him convinced me he is just someone trying to do a good job. We saw DOTr projects start moving again in his short stint as the agency head.

Prof. Dindo Manhit, a lead convenor of Democracy Watch Philippines who has worked with Vince, thinks Vince’s “tenure at the DOTr showed what leadership looks like when it is focused, innovative and grounded in public service.

“He fast-tracked long-delayed rail projects, launched cashless train payments… His time there was short, but his impact was evident.”

Building public trust is his top priority. He is also burning the midnight oil working on the 2026 budget, ridding it of insertions that must be removed.

I call him “the energizer bunny.” He is all over the place seemingly at the same time. He is agile and unafraid to do what he must without the bureaucratic gibberish we get from people like the DPWH Secretary he replaced.

Health activist Dr. Tony Leachon cites what Vince has done in the few days since he took over at DPWH: Called out collusion in bidding; slammed family-linked firms gaming the system; ordered a nationwide pause on all locally funded DPWH projects; requested lookout orders for contractors and officials tied to ghost flood control schemes.

And yes, he fired the Bulacan district engineer who admitted signing completion certifications for ghost projects. And ordered the perpetual ban of two ghost project contractors.

We need someone who is not afraid to make heads roll now. BBM doesn’t seem inclined to make those decisive moves himself so it is a welcome relief he got someone to do the dirty job for him.

Unfortunately, we don’t have more officials who are like Vince, quick to deliver on what the country needs. It is a pity that BBM has such a lean bench in his Cabinet.

I can’t think of even one more Cabinet member who is as busy cleaning up the bureaucratic cobwebs that have plagued us. The only other official that comes to mind is Gen. Nicolas Torre but BBM fired him for doing his job. Torre saved us P8 billion in congressional budget insertion to purchase 80,000 assault rifles the PNP doesn’t need.

This is why I hope Kim Henares becomes the next Ombudsman. She is the only one among the candidates with a track record of getting her job done whoever gets hurt.

It would take courage that BBM probably doesn’t have to name Kim as the next Ombudsman. We want heads to roll as soon as possible and only Kim can deliver on that wish. The worst thing BBM can do is appoint a politician or someone with links to politicians and vested interests.

And why is it taking BBM so long to constitute the investigating committee on ghost projects? The House cannot investigate itself. Neither can the Senate. The way their separate investigations are being done shows they are trying to protect themselves.

In this regard, we should cheer on Congressman Toby Tiangco. Never mind that he might also have a P529-million insertion for funding flood mitigation projects in Navotas. Never mind that Tiangco is acting like a hypocrite. We will deal with him later.

Right now, let us hear everything he wants to say because he does know some dark secrets.

The existence of a small committee aside from the bicam is not generally known until Tiangco publicly asked that its report be released. The report contains names of members as well as changes they made in the budget.

He is also right to ask that his fellow Congressman Zaldy Co and former Rep. Stella Quimbo be asked to shed light on how they handled the budget. Tiangco is testing the sincerity of the House leadership to get into the bottom of ghost projects.

At this point, Tiangco is a needed ally in our effort to ferret out the truth behind pork funds and ghost projects. Tiangco himself may be tainted but that’s OK for now so long as he helps in clearing the mess.

This is also how we should view BBM. There are those who say we should have nothing to do with anyone from the dictator’s family that plundered the nation. That’s self-defeating in the face of our reality.

Besides, fighting BBM is boosting Sara. Do those purists want Sara instead? In fact, the pinks should think of a tactical alliance with BBM for 2028 as the only way to stop Sara.

BBM is in a position to clean up the mess and it is in his interest to do that too. Let us work with him to get that done without absolving him of his duty to pay the inheritance taxes on his father’s estate which the SC said is final.

If a person is helping us win incremental gains in our fight for good governance, he isn’t an enemy. We must make progress, even incrementally, or risk physical mayhem as in Indonesia.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco