Sacred cows, sacred horses

The world rang in the Year of the Fire Horse on Monday night, ushering in the Lunar New Year of 2026, with the evening turning cherry red once again – from the glowing lanterns, the angpaos and those boxes of tikoy stacked high on dining tables.

Alongside the rituals and revelry, one feels that yearly collective wish: that the year ahead may be better and more prosperous, not only for ourselves, but for our country.

For many Filipinos, that hope includes accountability, especially after the unprecedented, massive and historic corruption tied to flood control projects.

Yet so far, there is no true reckoning just yet. Unfortunately for action star-turned-senator Bong Revilla, it seems that – at least for now – he remains the only visible big fish behind bars, never mind that during the height of the hearings, names far bigger and more powerful were implicated in the scandal.

Realistically speaking though, few believe those bigger names will ever see the inside of a jail cell.

Some tycoons, for instance, have conceded that none of the masterminds would likely be jailed or even charged.

It appears that the Marcos administration is just waiting for the people to forget, says one tycoon who was among those who believed that decisive action would have sent a reassuring signal to investors.

But then again, this is the Philippines, where it is almost impossible to see powerful people end up behind bars, regardless of the allegations.

In reality, the flood control issue, which once dominated headlines, now feels like yesterday’s news.

Back to normal

In fact, for many of the country’s elite – including some who quietly expressed outrage over the grand thievery – life has returned to its usual rhythm.

At last month’s 21st Enrique Zobel Memorial Polo Cup at the Manila Polo Club, for instance, several personalities linked to the controversy appeared unfazed and showed up as if nothing happened.

The champagne flowed, the mallets swung and Manila’s well-heeled crowd once again assembled beneath a forgiving January sun.

Familiar faces dotted the sidelines – politicians, business leaders, society regulars, including alleged perpetrators of the massive looting.

At the end of the day, no scandal, it seems, could cancel the social calendar.

Against this backdrop, court proceedings grind forward.

The Sandiganbayan’s Sixth Division will start on March 3 and 5 the trial of the malversation of public funds case filed against former Ako Bicol party-list congressman and now fugitive Zaldy Co and others over the P289-million anomalous flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

This comes after several months already since the scandal erupted.

The trial schedule, which will then proceed weekly every Tuesday and Thursday, was issued after the court terminated the hearings on the petitions for bail filed by the accused, according to The STAR’s Feb. 17 report.

The anti-graft court ordered ombudsman prosecutors to submit their formal offer of evidence, to which the bail petitioners should submit their comment or opposition. “Upon resolution by the court of the said Formal Offer, the parties are hereby given a period of three days from receipt of a copy thereof within which to file their respective memorandum, if so minded,” the court’s order read, as quoted in the report.

As it is now, Co has been declared by the Sandiganbayan as a fugitive from justice and barred him from participating in any court proceedings and seeking judicial relief until his voluntary surrender. He has been abroad since July 2025.

Co’s co-accused include several officials from the DPWH, although we already know that the bigger names, including former undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, are instead considered state witnesses by the Department of Justice.

$20,000 plate

Speaking of DPWH, I recently learned that there is a store in Istanbul which some DPWH officials visited some years back to buy expensive Turkish hand-painted ceramic plates. One plate was so huge and intricate that it cost $20,000. Yes, that’s right – a whopping $20,000 or P1.1 million. These DPWH officials were still in active duty at the time of their visit to Turkey but have since left the agency as a result of the flood control investigation.

Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon, for his part, has assured that more people have been implicated in the ghost flood control cases they have filed some two weeks ago before the Office of the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan.

Will these add to the numerous cases that are pending before our courts and have been dragging on for years?

Your guess is as good as mine.

I also hope the indefatigable secretary continues to fix corruption in the agency so that DPWH officials use taxpayers’ money well instead of gambling it away in casinos or on Turkish plates.

All eyes on 2028

In the meantime, all eyes are on the 2028 elections already, especially after VP Sara Duterte officially announced what everyone knew would happen anyway – that she will run for the presidency.

With this, we can expect the Marcos administration to forget about the flood control issue. Instead, political attacks against Sara Duterte and more mudslinging will likely intensify.

In short, last year’s trillion-peso thievery appears to have been forgotten, leaving the masterminds safe from prosecution.

Back at the polo grounds, there were smiles and cheers and loud applause at the final bell.

The horses eventually trotted off to their stables, just as the sacred cows left the picture of this whole flood control mess.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on X  @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.