Can the Marcos Commission Lead to Real Redemption?

By Joey Salgado

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero left the Senate presidency the same way he came in: with an astounding absence of humility.

His colleagues packaged his ouster as a redemptive act, a morally-driven coup meant to salvage the reputation of the Senate, widely despised as a chamber of secret deals under Escudero’s leadership. Still, Escudero, in his valedictory, boasted that his short-lived tenure - the shortest in the Senate’s history, we are told - should be extolled for revealing the true name of corruption, referring to his former counterpart, the Speaker of the House.

Earlier that day, as the coup was in motion, the Discaya contractor who goes by the comical nickname Curlee dropped what was initially billed as a bombshell. In a hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, he named no less than the Speaker Martin Romualdez, former appropriations chair Zaldy Co, and several congressmen and public works officials as recipients of kickbacks from his construction companies. It turned out to be a dud.

Bombshell at the House

Appearing before a House inquiry the following day, the credibility of Discaya’s claims unravelled. He clarified that he had no direct dealings with the Speaker or the former appro head, only that their names were mentioned by some congressmen. While he identified several congressmen before the Senate, he declined to identify personalities from the Duterte administration who benefited from his generosity. It turned out that some of the congressmen he mentioned did not have projects with any Discaya firm in their districts while some of those who did were conveniently omitted.

Except for the few instances of grandstanding and histrionics, the House probe was incisive and enlightening, managing to expose Discaya’s selective amnesia and his extraordinary business expansion during the Duterte administration even during the pandemic lockdown.

But the real bombshell came courtesy of two district engineers of Bulacan. They identified Senator Jinggoy Estrada and Senator Joel Villanueva as beneficiaries of kickbacks from flood control projects in the province. They presented photos of tables groaning with cash, supposedly representing the shares of the senators, and screenshots of Viber conversations between Villanueva and the district engineer. Unlike the Discaya statement at the Senate, may resibo sa House.

With both chamber of Congress on the path of mutually assured destruction, the President, with his promised independent commission, is now poised for political redemption but only if he proves himself unsparing of family and allies. He needs to end his term with honor restored. He needs to be seen as the redeemer, enshrined in history as the scion of a father ousted from power because of unbridled corruption who ended his own term as the champion of clean government. This will be his legacy if he can pull it off.

Real redemption

The controversy over flood control corruption is a badly-written rewrite of a novel called Philippine political history. We are reunited with characters resurrected as a result of uncontrollable urges. Some are new but embody the same traits: the self-righteous and morally corrupt politicians, scheming bureaucrats, slimy contractors. The finest business suits, the bible thumping, the legalese and smooth talk cannot hide the stench of high-grade BS.

For the younger generation, revelations of million-peso cars, yachts, wristwatches, bags and bongga parties funded by large-scale theft may either drive them to the pits of despair or prompt them to take action. This geezer hopes it will provide the caffeine jolt needed to get up from bed, off their keyboards, and into to the streets. That’s where real change starts. That’s where real redemption happens. Pound the pavement, make some noise, spread the word now, or wait for 2028 when all these shocking revelations are lost to the graveyard of forgotten memes and a new set of thieves take over.

This article also appears in Rappler