Have some shame!

Mahiya naman kayo! (Have some shame!). This was President Marcos’ admonition to elected officials who have taken billions in kickbacks in flood control and other government projects. Bar none, this was the most significant part of the President’s SONA. Why? Because it serves as a precedent to name and shame corrupt politicians.

The proclivity of Filipinos to stay silent even in the face of brazen corruption has normalized the crime and reduced it to a mere “standard operating procedure.” No one speaks out – no one cries foul – partly out of fear of retaliation and partly because our legal institutions have failed to hold high-level offenders accountable, except when politically motivated.

We have come to expect nothing from the Sandiganbayan, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Civil Service Commission and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission when it comes to investigating high-profile politicians. While the ombudsman and Sandiganbayan reported 1,692 and 263 cases filed, respectively, in 2023, not one conviction involved the big plunderers in Congress, the Senate or the Executive branch.

With anti-corruption institutions that are seemingly unwilling or incapable of persecuting the most powerful plunderers, one must ask – to whom can civil society turn? Who will investigate the corrupt if our own watchdogs do not?

Civilians who dare to call out corruption receive little to no institutional support or protection. Naturally, many choose silence. And that silence has further emboldened corrupt officials.

It has come to a point where senators and congressmen shamelessly tucked in some P879 billion in unprogrammed appropriations and budget insertions in the 2025 budget. For context, P879 billion is 10 times the budget of the Department of Transportation. The audacity and shamelessness is appalling! And the greed is worsening every year.

And that’s not all. As Baguio Mayor Benjie Magalong noted, as much as 40 percent of the cost of government projects go to kickbacks. Senator Ping Lacson puts it at 60 percent in “pass-through graft scheme.” Imagine if all that is stolen is instead channeled to education, health care, infrastructure or even the AFP’s modernization. We would be a stronger nation and there would be less suffering among us.

Corruption is why the country is the perennial development laggard and why hunger persists. It has become a national threat.

Name-and-shame campaign

The President himself initiated the name-and-shame campaign. We should all do the same – not out of malice, but as an act of public service. Just as a free press plays a vital role in maintaining checks and balances in a democracy, so too should free speech and the public calling-out of abusive politicians act as a deterrent to corruption.

Our anti-corruption institutions are unable to do their job – so civil society must step up to provide the pressure and oversight they fail to deliver. That said, I urge everyone to speak out – on your own social media platforms and in your communities. Expose corruption, abuses and acts of impropriety. Let us send a message to politicians, as clearly and loudly as possible, that we have reached our limit and we will no longer remain silent in the face of thievery and impropriety. Use the hashtag, #mahiyakayo on all your posts. Indeed, we have reached our limit.

Let me follow the lead of President Marcos, Mayor Magalong and Senator Lacson and declare what actions I find most contemptible.

• To you, congressmen and senators, who engineer ever-increasing pork barrel funds for yourselves even at the expense of reducing the budgets of the DepEd, DOTr and DSWD. Have some shame!

• To you, congressmen and senators, who are also contractors. We know who you are. Have some shame!

• To you, supposed public servants, who steal from the public through kickbacks. Have some shame!

• To you, who use your position to secure government concessions, contracts and franchises for your family’s corporation or proxy. Have some shame!

• To you, whose office receives a large budget yet you contribute nothing. All you do is travel and destabilize. Have some shame!

• To you, who use your confidential and intelligence funds like your personal kitty while making a mockery of COA liquidations. Have some shame!

• To you, who railroaded the Constitution to protect the interest of your political patron. Have some shame!

• To you, senators, who shield suspected plunderers to ensure your political survival. Have some shame!

• To you, elected officials, who defend and advance China’s interest. You are traitors! Have some shame!

• To you, elected officials, whose appetite to “party” (consume cocaine) is just as voracious as your greed. Have some shame!

• To you, political dynasties, who take undue advantage of the political machine and finances of your respective offices to win elections. Dynasties are the seeds of a kleptocracy. Have some shame!

• To elected officials who have spouses, siblings or children in the same chamber or LGU. Have some shame!

• To you, entitled politicians, who bully motorists on the road with your wang-wangs and PSG. Have some shame!

• To you, entitled politicians, who use our diplomats and embassies abroad like your personal concierge. Have some shame!

• To the corrupt politicians who rose to a standing ovation when the President spoke strongly about corruption in his SONA – you are hypocrites!

Let me close with a quotation from Mayor Magalong: “Silence is no longer an option… Complacency is a betrayal of our sense of nationalism. It’s about time that good men and women speak up and act. Silence is not neutrality… it is complicity and tolerance.”

Our elected officials have failed us – they betrayed us – because the greater majority are the very perpetrators of national plunder. The so-called corruption watchdogs are no better, rendered complicit through their silence and inaction.

The only weapon left for civil society is the searing light of public shame. Naming and shaming is our last line of deterrence.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aj_masigan