Atabay: NEEDS IMPROVEMENT: GRADING THE GOV'T ANTI-CORRUPTION PERFORMANCE

Ah, the Senate—where compassion gushes like floodwaters in a monsoon, but only when the political forecast calls for self-preservation.

Just a day after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake rattled Cebu leaving behind death toll rising to 72, P3-billion infrastructure damage, and grieving families, our honorable senators voted 15-3 to grant house arrest to Rodrigo Duterte. The reason? “Humanitarian grounds.” Sadly, it has no legal bearing on ICC.

Cebu magnitude 6.9 earthquake aftermath

How touching. Their sense of humanity for the architect of the bloody drug war seems far more urgent than the actual humans reeling from real disasters. And let’s not forget the backdrop: a P100-billion flood control “dubious insertions” that, according to Sen. Panfilo Lacson, had “almost all senators” dipping their hands into the 2025 budget like it was a buffet table at a campaign fundraiser. Yet somehow, the urgency to act on that mess—like Sen. Chiz Escudero's dribbling of VP Sara's impeachment ball—remains stuck in traffic.

Forty-Seven Days

That’s how long it’s been since the flood control scandal detonated by Sen. Lacson's Flooded Gates of Corruption speech like a corruption bombshell across the country. And yet, here we are—still waiting in the sidelines, watching the tide of investigations recede instead of rise. The House probe? Suspended. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee? Paused. The only institution still standing is the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), quietly conducting closed-door hearings.

As a citizen, and if I may speak as a teacher evaluating my student government’s performance in the subject Anti-Corruption Initiative 101, I’d give it a grade of NI—Needs Improvement. And I say that not out of cynicism, but out of concern.

The ICI: Our Last Line of Defense

Let’s be clear: the ICI is now the barometer of our government’s resolve. It’s the only body left actively investigating the flood control scandal, and its credibility is on the line.

The case of Rep. Elizaldy Co—who allegedly orchestrated budget padding, kickbacks, and ghost projects—is the litmus test. Should the ICI falter at this critical juncture, it won’t merely be a lost opportunity—it will mark a dangerous turning point, signaling that the machinery of corruption in infrastructure is too entrenched to dismantle.

Co’s resignation from Congress just hours before a travel ban was to take effect didn’t help. It felt less like accountability and more like a strategic retreat. His alleged ties to Sunwest Inc., which bagged P86 billion in government contracts, and the seven vans of suitcase deliveries of P1 billion in cash to his penthouse—these aren’t just numbers. They’re symbols of how deep that rot goes.

A Nation on Hold

This isn’t just about infrastructure. It’s about trust. It’s about the people who live in flood-prone areas, who watch their homes drown while billions are siphoned off into ghost projects. It’s about every Filipino who pay taxes and deserves to see those funds build roads, bridges, and flood defenses—not line pockets.

We’ve seen this playbook before: scandal breaks, outrage flares, investigations stall, and, to the bitter end, silence wins. But this time, we must demand better. Transparency. Speed. Accountability. The ICI must not just investigate and open its hearings to public—it must deliver.

Meantime—In The Land of Delays and Distractions

While floodwaters continue to rise in real life, the flood of evidence in the corruption scandal seems stuck in bureaucratic bottlenecks.

According to Sen. Lacson, the highly anticipated tell-all affidavits from the Discayas—contractor allegedly at the heart of the ghost project racket—are still nowhere to be found at the DOJ. Add to that the Manila RTC’s investigation into the notarized document involving TSgt Guteza and Atty. Espera—remaining in limbo.

With key pieces of the puzzle missing, Lacson had no choice but to hit pause on his Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearings.

And just as I was tapping away at this piece, another headline dropped like a plot twist: Sen. Lacson stepped down as committee chair. Whether out of frustration, fatigue, or political pressure, it’s a move that would leave the Senate’s anti-corruption efforts even more adrift.

The Ombudsman’s Watch and Co’s Vanishing Act

Meanwhile the Office of the Ombudsman is still poring over the ICI’s 32-page report—a document that could make or break the case against Rep. Elizaldy Co. This isn’t just paperwork. It’s the culmination of days of closed-door hearings, whistleblower testimonies, forensic audits, and asset tracing.

It holds the blueprint for formal charges that could finally bring accountability to one of the most brazen corruption schemes in recent memory. And yet, the longer the review drags on, the louder the public’s impatience grows.

As for Co himself? He’s become a ghost in his own scandal. One day he’s rumored to be in the U.S., the next in Spain—perhaps shopping in trendy SoHo in New York or sipping sangria in Seville, while Filipinos back home wade through floodwaters funded by their own stolen taxes.

Co's resignation may have shielded him from congressional scrutiny, but it hasn’t erased the outrage. For a man accused of pocketing billions, his international escapades feel like salt in the wound.

Tempting a Reset?

So here we are. Investigations stalled. Hearings suspended. Key players missing in action. And the only institution still grinding away is the ICI—carrying the weight of a nation’s hope for justice.

So yes, I stand by my grade of NI—Needs Improvement.

Eventually, the final grade hinges on whether the ICI can rise above the noise, cut through the fog, and deliver what the people deserve: truth, accountability, and a system that finally works—not just on paper, but in the lives of ordinary Filipinos.

Perhaps what we need is a reset. Oops, not the kind AFP Chief Gen Romeo Brawner Jr. ominously warned about—a sweeping “reset for the entire Philippine society,” which sounds more like a dystopian reboot than a democratic remedy.

Nah, what we need is a crisis management reset: a recalibration of priorities, a reawakening of political will, a restoration of public trust, and a revival of moral values.

One that doesn’t just patch potholes in governance.

It rebuilds the entire road to integrity.