Amid the investigation into the DPWH flood control projects scandal, concerns arise over potential cycles of corruption where 'big fish' evade accountability. An opinion piece warns that many past scandals ended without jailing high officials. Monitoring the entire process is crucial to ensure justice.
The current spotlight on the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) flood control projects scandal centers on investigating and charging implicated government officials, including legislators, and contractors. Deemed the biggest scandal to hit the Philippines, it risks following patterns of past cases like the P728-million fertilizer fund scam in 2004 and the P10 billion pork barrel scam in 2013, where most 'big fish' escaped unscathed.
Nathan Gilbert Quimpo, retired from teaching political science at Japan's University of Tsukuba, outlines corruption scandal cycles: uncovering/exposé, investigation, indictment and prosecution, punishment or acquittal, non-implementation/reversal of punishment or pardon, rehabilitation and relegitimation, and return to normal. In the first three stages, no guilt is established. Examples of comebacks include former President Joseph Estrada, convicted of plunder in Juetengate but pardoned and reelected; and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, indicted for plunder in 2012 but acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2016.
Aside from Imelda Marcos, convicted on corruption-related charges but serving no jail time, only four have been convicted of plunder: Estrada, Janet Lim-Napoles, Richard Cambe, and a Bureau of Internal Revenue cashier. The DPWH scandal is shifting from investigation to indictment. The piece calls for vigilance, determination, and persistence across all stages to prevent corrupt officials from escaping and returning to power.
'Corrupt officials — convicted or not — run again for public office or secure a reappointment to “rehabilitate” and relegitimize themselves,' the opinion states.
