SOCIAL media bloggers are having a field day lambasting politicians, contractors and their children allegedly involved in the anomalous multibillion-peso flood control programs. Since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. exposed and riled against these ghost and shoddy projects tied to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), social media has turned into a hunting ground for those implicated in the flood control anomalies -- including their children. The latter flaunt their lavish lifestyles online, parading their Guccis, Louis Vuittons, Ferraris and Maseratis while the rest of us are inundated by daily floods.
Such impunity does not sit well with many Filipinos. It further strikes a raw nerve amid the rise in fuel prices and horrific stories of criminality. Just recently, 13 massage therapists on Cabrera St., Barangay 140, Pasay City, were robbed, and two were raped by two armed men. This is an indictment of the government's failure to alleviate people's suffering while the powerful are basking in ostentatious wealth and luxury.
In the past, even the fiercest political battles spared the children from the crossfire in an unspoken code of honor. Today, however, the circumstances are different. These children are no longer innocent bystanders but rather direct beneficiaries of their parents' ill-gotten wealth. By flaunting designer clothes, SUVs, private jets, yachts and overseas trips online, they rub salt on the people's wounds and agitate their disgust. This can percolate and erupt into mass protests like what's taking place in Indonesia today.
Their parents complain that the backlash against their children is cruel and traumatizing them. But citizen outrage has long been used to hold the mighty and powerful to account for their crimes. In Chile, cronies of the Pinochet dictatorship were publicly shamed, screamed at in the streets, and even struck with umbrellas by elderly women. After World War II, Nazi officials and sympathizers were exposed in public campaigns in order that they would never again return to power or be recognized by society. In Singapore, disgraced officials chose to jump from high-rise buildings rather than face the humiliation of conviction in their unforgiving anti-corruption courts.
And yet, in the Philippines, there is neither remorse nor shame among these people. Instead, those implicated appear smug and defiant, granting carefully orchestrated interviews with veteran broadcasters and engaging in tit-for-tat spats on social media. In a twisted turn of fate, notoriety becomes popularity. Thick-faced and oblivious, they assume that their hoard of cash and phalanx of lawyers would protect them. They know their cases would drag on in the courts for years, confident that their connections will ultimately shield them from justice.
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So, how do we hit them where it hurts?
As a society, we can follow Chile's lesson of ostracizing these plunderers and their children. First, they must be pilloried relentlessly on social media platforms until they atone for their crimes. Second, let the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) probe the source of their wealth and freeze questionable bank accounts. Third, exclusive schools must decline their children's applications for enrollment. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) could also investigate the proper accounting of their real income taxes. And fourth, proprietors of restaurants, hotels, clubs and other establishments should close their gates to these plunderers. These actions are not designed for persecution but as a stinging lesson to future generations that we don't condone corruption.
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On one hand, the government must also reimagine ways of hitting them where it hurts. First, cities and provinces could declare them persona non grata. Second, the NBI and PNP-CIDG should monitor popular clubs and catch their children for illegal drug use. The PNP-Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO) can revoke their gun licenses, while the Bureau of Immigration (BI) could place them on a watchlist. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) can alert foreign counterparts to probe their money laundering activities abroad. And crucially, the AFP-ISAF should disarm their private armies or goons for threatening national security.
There are many ways to strike at corrupt officials and contractors where it hurts. Grandstanding with hammers and gongs won't deter them and will only further disillusion the public. I am sure that these suspects are now plotting exit strategies or simply lying low until the public outrage dies down. Meanwhile, the vicious cycle of corruption on a grand scale continues, robbing taxpayers of free health care, education, food and social services.
If flooding persists and this DPWH scandal ends without putting any suspect behind bars, many Filipinos will reject this government altogether. And when that happens, agitators against this administration would plead with the military, whose constitutional mandate is "to serve and protect the people," to spark a revolt and regime change.
Hopefully, that path will not take place because that will really hit the nation where it hurts.