There is an old saying about the tail wagging the dog. In politics, this usually happens when someone who is supposed to be only part of the machinery begins dictating where the entire machinery should go. That increasingly appears to be the awkward position the present administration – unwittingly perhaps – finds itself in.
In particular, what started as another round in the increasingly bitter feud between Senate minority leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Sen. Ping Lacson is no longer confined to the Senate. Their dispute has clearly become personal.
It has widened, not just at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) but now includes other government agencies dragged into Lacson’s expanded digging into the alleged questionable flood mitigation projects in Cayetano’s home turf in the city of Taguig. The Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA), the Land Registration Authority (LRA) and even the Office of the Ombudsman have somehow found themselves drawn into the political crossfire.
Perhaps the evidence will eventually establish these things. Perhaps it will not. That is what investigators are supposed to determine. The problem arises when the accusation begins to sound like the official finding before the official investigators have actually made one.
The ombudsman conducts fact-finding following due process. Documents have been sought from DPWH, PRA, LRA and other government offices. “Fact-finding” has a fairly straightforward meaning. The facts are still being found. Yet in the public arena, the language has already moved several steps ahead: ghost projects, manipulated titles, kickbacks, illegal reclamation and even possible plunder.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has every reason to support investigations into corruption. But supporting investigations is different from allowing the machinery of the executive branch to become entangled in somebody else’s political war.
And not always comfortably. Senator Lacson has publicly linked billions of pesos worth of government infrastructure projects to what he describes as unauthorized reclamation activities around the Laguna Lake area. This is a serious accusation. Except that DPWH “acting” Secretary Vince Dizon recently offered an explanation that complicated considerably the whole story.
Asked in a radio interview whether one of the roads being discussed was itself a reclamation project, Dizon was categorical: “Hindi po. Yung road po, hindi po.” More interestingly, Dizon explained this was a road project way back in 2010 during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte. But the more important detail is it had already been completed.
A project now being swept into the narrative of supposedly illegal reclamation which the DPWH secretary himself clarified was a national government infrastructure project that started as far back as 16 years ago. Dizon was equally careful about the cease-and-desist order issued in connection with projects in the area. According to Dizon, the PRA had not yet rendered any findings of alleged illegal reclamation.
Cayetano attacked Lacson over his stewardship of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, questioned what he portrayed as the committee’s failure to pursue certain leads. What roused the hackles was after Cayetano questioned Lacson’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) and publicly accused the latter as an attack dog for the administration.
Lacson responded that Cayetano had crossed the line. Shortly thereafter, allegations involving Taguig projects of the Cayetano’s began coming one after another. Coincidence perhaps. Politics is full of coincidences. But it is difficult to ignore the escalation. After Lacson cast the net of investigations, it has become so wide that government agencies themselves are getting caught in it.
During his stint as chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee investigating the national flood control scandal, Lacson publicly expressed doubt that there was one overall mastermind behind the corruption network. The Office of the Ombudsman subsequently developed a significantly different theory of the case.
That alone should remind everyone that Senate investigation and criminal investigation are not the same thing. A senator can develop a theory. The ombudsman must develop a case.
And the two do not always end in the same place.
And this is where the Marcos administration may eventually have to be more careful.
The government cannot afford to have its institutions continuously chasing political pronouncements. It would also be unfair to the administration. There is a reason investigators investigate first and announce conclusions later. There is also a reason constitutional offices such as the Office of the Ombudsman are supposed to exercise independent judgment.
Otherwise, government agencies begin looking less like independent institutions and more like an investigative back office for whoever has the loudest microphone. If taxpayers’ money was stolen, recover it and prosecute those responsible.
As the chairman of the Senate finance committee, Sen. JV Ejercito vouched for the proposed 2027 national budget, that it will not include funding for new flood control projects. As per perusal of the proposed 2027 General Appropriations Act (GAA) bill, Senator JV believes the government will prioritize completing unfinished projects and addressing existing gaps before the end of PBBM’s term in June 2028. “No new projects, complete all the uncompleted projects and close the gaps,” Senator JV noted.
The flooding from the latest cyclone Pilandok while we’re having the habagat season dampened the official start of the “ber” holiday season in our country. To the tune of “Christmas in our Hearts” popularized by Jose Mari Chan, Filipinos are now singing a version that has gone viral on Tiktok. Credit to the owner:
Whenever I see boys and girls
Lumulusong dun sa streets,
I remember the bags
Ng mga nepo babies.
Whenever there’s baha
Lumulutang na their cars
Lulubog…ang Christmas
‘Coz greed is in their hearts.
Budget sa flood control
For a brighter tomorrow
Inubos, nilimas
Ninakaw na…oh gaaad!
Let’s swim, Merry Christmas
Nothing beats the holiday
Mag Noche Buena dun sa bubong
Baha is all around us.
Habang ang mga kurakot
Lumulusong dun sa snow
The cold will never bother them
‘Coz greed is in their hearts.
Supposed to usher in the merry spirit, it is a very sad take-off for this coming Christmas season.