WHEN people, young and old, stage out of the ordinary rallies in two announced sites tomorrow in Metro Manila, they will be expressing the gravely offended sensibilities of a ruthlessly wounded population.
They will be there to demonstrate their indignation over what has become a metastasis, a cancer in society that has been intractable for well over a score, seen now in guarded presence in casinos and webs of corruption by the unsated government employees and their accomplices in the lower rungs and private sector contractors.
Like the uncontrollable growth of abnormal cells that invaded other government agencies, not excluding the legislature, there has been, seen initially from the pubic hearings by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, a breakdown, which led to an overproduction of damaged cells that have formed tumors in erstwhile trusted institutions.
Deftly dubbed “The Trillion Peso March,” the demonstrations by Church groups, civil society organizations, labor unions, political coalitions and other sectors, which will coincide with the declaration of martial law 53 years ago, coherently respond to alleged corruption in government flood control projects.
Such projects, raised as Exhibits during the deadly floodwaters north and south of the capital in August, exposed ghost and never started projects despite the release of funds legislated for them.
The sight of thick wads – seen by the public who were keenly following the Senate investigations – of cash on engineering and other office tables intended as incentives, kickbacks or grease for officials of the Dept. of Public Works underlined beyond doubt the stubbornness of those in the chain of corruption.
Those caught in the gossamer of lies have been uncovered to have played, won and lost in casinos, using different aliases to avoid the hand of the law prohibiting government employees from playing in these gaming facilities.
But more than looking at the uncountable number of those putting up their dukes during Sunday’s demonstrations, officials should as well listen to the intense anger of a hitherto very trusting people that now feel they have lost their future.
They demand action, an immediate action to reconstruct their badly torn trust in their government and those parading with loaders, helmets and gloves to give the impression they are up and running for the people they are meant to serve and not for their similarly predatory families enjoying an opulent lifestyle.
They know the government has put a lookout bulletin for those who may want to stealthily escape from the long arm of the law. The public hearings have done as much to pinpoint who the guilty are.
An Independent Commission for Infrastructure has also been formed.
But the people want the guilty punished in no time to demonstrate the government’s single-mindedness to repossess the trust of the 117 million population they are mandated to protect from clear-cut duplicity.
And they want that punishment yesterday. Not today. Not tomorrow. Because that might be too late.
