EDITORIAL - Not all there is to it

There is probably no argument that the pork barrel scam is one of the most interesting political episodes in this politically disaffiliated country of ours. Judging by what everybody is talking about, it seems that nothing more important has descended upon our collective consciousness than this.

But as interesting and as important though the pork barrel scam may be, it is not as if our nation will rise or fall on the basis of what fate awaits Janet Napoles and the political titans who may get dragged down eventually to hell with her.

This nation is not meant to grind to a halt because of this scam. In fact this is just the latest in a long and continuing saga of Philippine scandals, some of which drove us far closer to the brink on waves upon waves of violence.

So the Philippines will survive this latest hiccup. All the signs point to it. Indeed, the surest sign that we will eventually surmount this crisis and move on is the fact that there is an underlying lack of seriousness in the way we are proceeding on the scam.

In case you have missed what seems pretty obvious to many, the crackdown by the authorities on those allegedly involved seems to focus only on the political enemies of this administration. Its allies who could also be involved have so far remained untouched.

What this tells us that there will be enough of government to survive the crisis. And while the survivors will all be allies of the administration, at least they can bring us all to our next destination, whatever and wherever that may be.

Of course, this government under this administration will have no checks and balances to curb potential excesses and abuses. It will be having a field day with its policies, the good lumped with the bad, with all of us along for the ride.

We can only hope that however we emerge from this, the gains will be true and great, and the losses not fatal and recoverable. One thing that will remain unscathed in all of this though -- we just do not have what it takes to mature politically. And that is a sadness without any cure.