“Will our Christian upbringing that has ingrained forgiveness as virtue yet withstand the daily revelations of larceny most grave and corruption most unforgivable?”
“THIS will be a long fight, and we must be prepared to play the long game. The forces of corruption are deeply entrenched, but so too is the Filipino spirit of resilience and courage.
“Change will not happen overnight (but) as long as we remain vigilant, as long as we continue to resist, as long as we keep faith in our country, then we will prevail.”
Those words are quotations from Benjamin Banez Magalong’s valedictory after his short stint as “adviser” and designated “chief investigator” in the newly minted ICI that is supposed to unearth, investigate, and recommend for prosecution those responsible for the appalling, nay, shocking infrastructure mess that has brought down the houses of Congress to the pits of infamy, along with concupiscent DPWH officials and their sleazy contractors.
Magalong was “used” by a president who he thought showed sincerity and determination, only to later discover that his principal acted on impulse but retreated when confronted by the true wielders of power who saw the mayor of Baguio City as an “unguided missile” who could torpedo their waiting game of cover-up.
The president as usual did not do what his predecessor FVR called “complete staff work.” Not necessarily a good student of history, who his immediate predecessor Duterte described as a “spoiled rich kid” unfit for the highest post in the land, PBbM did not carefully assess Magalong’s character — that of an uncompromising soldier of truth, one willing to joust against the windmills of whoever would tamper with the truth, be it a PNoy or a GMA.
This guy Magalong cannot be trusted to play along. He will not hide the truth nor cover up for scoundrels no matter how high.
And so the real powers in the country circled their wagons, invented “dirt” from association with the discredited Discayas in Baguio’s unfinished and still unpaid tennis and parking facility, and then unleashed their insufferably cantankerous mouthpiece to finally get a decent man to throw in the towel upon mission impossible.
Do not be surprised if others conscripted into the ICI eventually follow Magalong.
Still the question in our mind remains unanswered: is the outraged citizenry “prepared to play the long game?”
Or just as the outraged youth and teeming masses of Peru and Nepal, Belgrade and Jakarta, even Bangladesh and Colombo in the past, will ours no longer wait, no longer willing to forgive and forget?
Will our Christian upbringing that has ingrained forgiveness as virtue yet withstand the daily revelations of larceny most grave and corruption most unforgivable?
A retired Marine testifies to personal knowledge about suitcases filled with cash his bosses call “basura” brought to the mansions of the powerful, and no sooner than he had spoken, his testimony is questioned on the supposed imperfection of a 24-hour notary’s recantation.
As if those of us who have sought notarization of documents do not know how notaries operate.
Even the former soldier’s heroic disdain for Senate or DOJ protection which he earlier thought was mantle for the truth he unveiled, preferring instead the armor of his fellow Marines, was twitted by the marionettes and paid hacks of the insatiable power-clingers.
Now that the houses of Congress have set fire upon each other, unmindful of the permanent institutional damage they are inflicting, the public is bewildered — who else can they trust?
A judiciary that sits like an ivory tower seemingly unperturbed, an instantly created commission which will eventually submit findings to an Ombudsman which will further investigate, and eventually file charges, water-tight or water-downed, before a Sandiganbayan that will take its sweet time, while other issues paper over the instant outburst of public rage?
Last Monday I wrote about 2028, the year when we again pin our hopes on another “savior” from this state of the benighted nation.
With the houses of Congress descending into the dustbin, the dreams of unlimited power nursed by its denizens are now gone.
With that as well the dreams of longevity by a family that has regained power by election in 2022 have vanished.
What happens next in this benighted land, and when has now become “anything goes.”
Let me end this cri de coeur with the lines of that most memorable song from the musical Les Miserables:
“Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be (fooled) again.
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums,
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes.”
