Redemption opportunity for BBM

The ongoing revelations and investigations of the government’s overpriced, graft-loaded infrastructure projects, in flood control and others, are not going to disappear soon. It will stay for some time or a long time, as it has captivated the sense of injustice of the Filipino people and the nation. Aside from the cause-oriented groups, the activists, youths, all the business organizations like the PCCI, the MBC, CCI, FINEX, all the trade associations, the Catholic Church assemblies, have now joined the clamor against corruption and demanding accountability and convictions. There are already rallies/demonstrations in front of the Discaya offices/residencies and in the DPWH offices.

The Congress and the Senate are going through the motions of fact-finding investigations, but lacking public credibility, the actions of the executive departments, like seizing the luxury cars of the named contractors, hold departure orders of the principals/owners of the investigated companies, the firing and charging of DPWH officials, and the move to form an independent commission are more received/accepted by the people.

The information and revelations coming from the Congress/Senate investigations and executive departments actions have identified many of the involved individuals, both private persons and government officials. These have led to main/social media shaming, more researching and sharing of the corruption practices and lavish lifestyles of the private and public personalities involved in these corrupt government projects, of ghost/unfinished projects where payments are advanced/are fully paid and shared with government officials. These cyber attacks have been damaging to many sitting senators, congressman, DPWH officials, and the private owners of the construction companies.

So far, with the initial accusations coming from him, BBM and his team are in a good governance position, even if recollections of the corruption dhis father’s term as president and dictator were recollected/recalled. It is not lost on BBM and his handlers that this current corruption scandal is the great opportunity for BBM and his family to redeem the legacy and the Marcos family name. If the expectations of the Filipino people are achieved with the convictions of the guilty, the recovery/restoration of the plundered resources, BBM will be greatly admired and a lot of forgiving will follow. The political consequences on some of the senators, congressmen, local government officials will happen without BBM’s nudging, while insulating him from political damage. This redemptive action by BBM is better, and will go farther than revising/rewriting the history/story of the Marcos martial law years. This is atonement, restitution and repayment.

These current government projects corruption scandals would’ve been good ammunitions for VP Duterte to get back at BBM and reclaim the narrative on good governance. Unfortunately, these corrupt practices happened mostly in the time of former president Duterte and Duterte allies like Bong Go are tainted/included with these corrupt construction companies. The corrupt transactions of the Duterte presidency like the Pharmally scandal and the ?52-billion Davao DPWH budget allocation are also easily recalled. VP Sara herself is accused of corruption in the Department of Education and in the Office of the Vice President, so the Dutertes cannot take the moral high ground.

These DPWH overpriced/ghost/unfinished projects are really just a variation of the Napoles pork barrel scam that convicted some senators/congressmen and other politicians. Napoles was sharing and pocketing public funds for non-existent livelihood projects by faking all the documentary requirements and collecting the payments. This time it is for ghost, unfinished, or under-spec construction projects. When will we ever learn and when will we take action?