“It’s as if you are seeing a boxing match with us being in the ring”
AM I seeing matches everywhere? I don’t know. It seems as if these have been cluttered around me. From where I am sitting at this moment, there has been no substantial progress made in investigating the flood control and corruption anomalies conducted by Congress.
It’s as if you are seeing a boxing match with us being in the ring. On one hand, you have a body whose shape was built in a reclaimed area in Pasay, ready to pull its punches against those who could be accused of harboring sums of cash from these projects. This camp was being coached by Ping, a longtime member of the police force who is notoriously responsible for keeping his staff in proper order.
On the other side, you have another team that is being shared by four men who have been plastered with their Amerikana suits and barongs. The Batasan-built physique has its own probe to contest the findings being revealed in Pasay. Its members could fill up half a ballroom with their objective of, basically, pointing fingers as to who really is to blame for this mess.
Suddenly, you see them punching.
Pasay tries to spar with Batasan with a simple jab. It implicated Zaldy Co from Bicol, who has been accused of putting insertions on members’ funds in the appropriations bill. He was also targeted for having received “kickbacks” in flood control works. His companies, Sunwest and Hi-Tone, were also involved in substandard projects in certain areas, such as Oriental Mindoro.
Batasan, in its sheer attempt for defense, countered. With former Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez as its pawn, he accused Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva of inserting 355 million and 600 million respectively for flood control projects in Bulacan, with a 30% SOP – kickback – reserved for them. This sent their own wave of denials in Pasay as both of them have been indicted in the infamous Pork Barrel Scam.
But as the rounds subsided, a referee began to intervene.
It was Malacañang, which created its own Independent Commission for Infrastructure to investigate these anomalies on their own. It is a three-person body, with an executive director and adviser serving as their guide and conscience for their proceedings. The ICI qualmed Batasan and its investigation process to provide impartiality. This came after the Lower House’s troubles of its leadership which booted Romualdez out as its Speaker. The gentleman from Leyte has also been tagged in these anomalies, mainly coming from Guteza’s testimony done in Pasay.
But Pasay began to experience its own troubles, too. Just as when these proceedings were starting to bear its fruition, some from their camp have expressed their dismay. For one, Ping’s proceedings have placed the names of Estrada, Villanueva, Revilla, and Binay on the list of senators who had benefited from these flood control projects. What made it worse, however, was how he tried to counter Dante’s unscrupulous nonsense. Bark like a dog, and he got himself some beating.
And as I write this, Pasay could undergo another coup inside their doors. Zaldy Co, too, has decided to flee from the country with no plans to undergo scrutiny from the public.
The boxing match has effectively ended. No one has owned the victory. Accountability was met with politics, with each of them parading their “accountability” for political drama. Pasay punched Batasan in the chest, Batasan served a strike in Pasay’s gut.
I don’t see any point in how I would end this entry. Except for one. Remember those who stormed Mendiola and caused a riot there? Well, it’s a shame that they spared Pasay and Batasan. Because Congress ought to be burned at the stake at this particular time.
It’s time for us to raze Pasay and Batasan from the ground up. Every fiber, cloth, and steel must be placed into the fiery pit. This is the best way to end this political boxing match.
(The writer is a 20-something year-old who floats around between writing and keeping himself company inside his room. You may send comments to ngrolando2003@yahoo.com.)
