EDITORIAL — Feast of the Innocents

Today is December 28, and according to Roman Catholic tradition it’s also observed as Feast of the Innocents Day. It was declared such following the massacre of male babies and those under two years old in Bethlehem as ordered by King Herod the Great after he learned about the birth of Jesus Christ, the boy who would become king.

Today is also quite the curious day in Philippine tradition, because it’s a day some of us play tricks or practical jokes on others, taking advantage of their “innocence” per se. It’s a day when people make prank calls or false claims. It’s our own version of April Fools’ Day.

The occasion seems appropriate for us to realize we may have been tricked or made fools of.

By now we, as a nation, just can’t help but feel we have been taken for a ride or made fools of with this whole flood-control brouhaha. Some time ago, someone promised that corruption would get unraveled with the establishment of the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI). Some time ago, someone promised that big fish involved in the flood-control corruption will be in jail before the year ends. How we cheered. But were they just taking advantage of our innocence?

With the resignation of commissioner Rossana Fajardo, the ICI is down to one last member and with nothing really to show for their efforts. While many pinned a lot of hope in the ICI, it didn’t have really that much teeth to begin with. Sure it could go after some people but was powerless to make others --more influential ones-- appear for questioning.

Meanwhile, no one really big has been jailed. Yes, there are some people in prison right now and some of them have become quite famous due to notoriety and public bashing, but can we really say they are the biggest of fishes, or are they just small fry in the scheme of things?

Have we been pranked?