TURNING POINT: Quick and Hard

The Senate is blemished by the corruption allegations against 6 of its members, namely, Jinggoy Estrada, Joel Villanueva, Francis Escudero, Mark Villar, Grace Poe, and Bong Go. Former senators Bong Revilla and Nancy Binay had earlier thrown dirt at the besmirched institution. All are embroiled in the trillion-peso flood control project anomalies highlighted by the modus operandi of insertions and commitments.

The testimony under oath of former DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo corroborated the earlier testimonies of Brice Hernandez and Henry Alcantara and damn all concerned to hell.

Super typhoons Tino and Uwan exposed nakedly the gargantuan corruption by smashing to perdition the various flood control projects like walls of cards and submerged under 10-20 feet of floodwaters the communities they were supposed to protect. The flood in Cebu alone claimed more than a hundred lives, 127 were reported missing, and 88 were injured. To survive, people have to stay in rooftops. The flood also killed innumerable farm animals and damaged countless crops and properties.

Something quick and hard should be done before the people become immune to corruption and accept it as a way of life. Justice should not be slowed by the dilatory tactics of those charged with accountability. The identified plunderers of the nation ought to be all hauled in jail at the soonest possible time to show to all and sundry that we mean business.

It is our good fortune to have a no-nonsense Ombudsman in the person of Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla. He promised to file charges against the corrupt lawmakers and their cohorts before the end of the month and arrest them immediately thereafter. They will have, accordingly, their Christmas party in jail. Senator Bato, who is running chicken and in hiding, may join the party unless he surrenders early to the International Criminal Court for his outrageous crimes against humanity.

Remulla’s scheme offers a window of justice that is quick and hard. May this discourage, if not stop, those who are still hatching in the dark the pursuit and satisfaction of their scheme of greed.

(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. William R. Adan, Ph.D., is retired professor and former chancellor of Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental.)