No change

The outrage against the pork barrel continues to mount as more and more anomalies surrounding it are surfacing, bit by juicy bit. One thing clear and undeniable at this stage is that the scam is for real, based on the recent no holds barred live interview of Janet Lim-Napoles, the supposed brains behind this well organized illegal activity who agreed to talk without the assistance of her lawyer. The investigation should therefore continue until proper charges are filed in court against the government officials in the Executive and Legislative Departments, and even in the Commission on Audit (COA) who may be found liable.

It would be better however if the investigations of the other anomalies recently exposed would also proceed for the same purpose of prosecuting those found liable and clearing the names of others implicated in loose talks who may not be really liable. Specifically these are the rampant smuggling in the Bureau of Customs involving some still nameless and faceless “powerful forces”, as well as the alleged pay off in the acquisition of trains for the MRT 7 under the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) where persons closely related to P-Noy and his late mother Cory are consistently mentioned. Their investigations should also be pursued with the same vigor as the pork barrel scam.

But right now suspicions cannot be erased that there is a deliberate attempt to cover up the anomalies in Customs and the DOTC. Nothing much has been written or heard about them. For the past days the Press seems to be focusing only on the pork barrel scam. People are therefore already concluding that the spotlight is riveted on the pork barrel merely as a clever move by the Palace spin doctors to divert the public attention and interest away from the anomalies in the Customs and DOTC until they are completely forgotten and buried into oblivion. These suspicions seem to be well founded considering that the Customs and DOTC are agencies directly under P-Noy and the persons being incriminated are close to him.

Whether these suspicions are true or not however, the probes of these three major cases of corruption must continue relentlessly, deliberately and thoroughly leaving no stones unturned. In fact it would be better if the press coverage will be lessened or temporarily suspended until the investigations are over and the necessary charges are filed in court. Too much publicity during the investigations of these alleged anomalies only hampers the probe and may even deprive those involved, of their basic rights under the constitution. Indeed, crime investigations and evidence gathering are usually done quietly and without much fun-fare so as to build up more air-tight and solid cases.

Also, for more credibility and to avoid suspicions of bias or whitewash, the investigations should not be conducted by the agencies and /or committees under the Executive or Legislative Departments because they are the very departments affected by the anomalous and corrupt acts. Hence the credibility and impartiality of the current investigation on the pork barrel scam by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), an agency of the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the supervision and control of the President are also subject to doubts and questions.     

In fact, a signature campaign has already been launched by the Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO) petitioning the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) to conduct the probe on the pork barrel scam. So far, 7,000 signatures have been gathered and still counting. Offhand this petition seems to be the proper move to take because under our Constitution, the OMB or the Office of the Tanodbayan is really the “protector of the people” charged to “act promptly on complaints filed in any form or manner against public officials or employees of the Government or any subdivision agency or instrumentality thereof” (Section 12 Article XI). It is proper body where the “little man” or the common tao can seek protection and redress of their grievances against the “vast juggernaut of government machine”.

But as usual, the problem lies not in the system but in the people working under the system. While the Constitution indeed provides that the Ombudsman must be a person “of recognized probity and independence” (Section 8, Article XI), past experiences show that the persons who have occupied that position have not actually met such qualifications. And the reason is obvious. All of them are still appointed by the President upon recommendation of the Judicial and Bar Council whose members are also appointed by the President (Section 9). The debt of gratitude they have to the appointing power will somehow have an influence on their decisions and actions.

And the incumbent Ombudsman is no exception here. Her track record since being appointed by PNoy apparently indicates that she has not been as fair and as independent as she should be especially her controversial testimony in the impeachment trial against the former Chief Justice upon the complaint instigated by PNoy.  Besides, amidst this raging furor over the exposes on the pork barrel scam and the corruptions in the Customs and the DOTC which really “appear to be illegal, unjust, improper, or inefficient”, she should have already initiated an investigation on her own without waiting for that petition by the citizens. Section 13 (1) Article XI require her to do so as one of functions and duties of the OMB. So people cannot help but conclude that her inaction here is really due to the fact that most of those involved in these illegal activities belong to PNoy’s party or are close to him.

At the end of the day, it seems that we are left with no recourse but to create an independent fact finding Truth Commission composed of members with proven integrity, independence, and competence coming from the private sector particularly civic organizations. There are plenty of them. Hopefully, they would be patriotic enough to answer the call. And hopefully this administration will also find it proper to put it up.

Otherwise, we will have to bear with the present situation of having no change, walang pagbabago .

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