TURNING POINT: Netting for a Bigger Catch

Acquitted of a pork barrel scandal before, with fellow senator Jinggoy Estrada, the unrepentant and unscathed Bong Revilla figured again in an easy and quick money scheme to fill his pockets. This time, it’s on a P92.8 million ghost flood control project in Bulacan.

Revilla never learned. He is now detained at the Quezon City Jail Male Dormitory in Payatas, as ordered by the Sandiganbayan Third Division on Tuesday, January 20.

The former senator is facing charges of malversation and graft filed by the Office of the Ombudsman last week. The Ombudsman said Revilla and Department of Public Works and Highways officials in Bulacan allegedly conspired to facilitate the release of P76 million from the project, which was never implemented. The amount involved falls under the category of plunder. A non-bailable offense.

Bulacan, a water-clogged province in Central Luzon, has attracted and become a quicksand for corrupt politicians and DPWH officials. The high-profile queue to the detention chamber, courtesy of the Sandiganbayan includes, accordingly, Senators Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Esatrada.

The Bulacan boys, namely Engrs. Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez, and Jaypee Mendoza, are joining them. Former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan has also joined the party. Former Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral escaped the net by taking a different route.

The catch is big enough. The public, however, expects more, with the acknowledgment of the Discayas that they had been in the flood control money-making scheme since 2016 or since the time of former President Duterte. That says a lot, considering that Cezarah Discaya is now in jail because of a ghost P96.5 flood control project in Davao Occidental, which is within the sphere of influence of the Dutertes.

No one then can do business in Davao without the clearance, participation, or involvement of the Dutertes. Cezarah Discaya and her husband Pacifico own several construction companies that bagged billions-worth of government projects between 2022 and 2025, in different parts of the country, according to the President’s “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website.

So much for Bulacan. There is a need to focus the lens on corruption in other parts of the country. The catch might be bigger and fatter.

(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.)