Republic failing stress test

First of two parts

A SITTING president facing credible allegations of corruption is a stress test of any republic’s institutions. In the Philippines today, Congress and the Office of the Ombudsman are failing that test.

The allegations publicly aired by insider and former congressman Zaldy Co are not just noise from a disgruntled politico; they are leads. They point to specific acts, transactions and relationships that can be checked, corroborated or disproved by documents and witnesses already within reach of state investigators. The mere fact that a member of the political class has broken omertà and spoken against the powers-that-be should have triggered, at minimum, a formal, public inquiry. Instead, both chambers of Congress have largely treated Co’s statements as fodder for intrigue, not as the starting point of a serious search for the truth. 

Ilocos kingpin Chavit Singson, who had for decades been close to former president Joseph Estrada, disclosed in October 2000 that he had been forced to turn over jueteng and tobacco excise taxes to the president, the equivalent of P1.5 billion today. A bold Congress with a conscience and civil society moved to impeach him while the Office of the Ombudsman investigated him for plunder charges filed even after he was ousted. 

Now, Co — whose role or even that of the then House speaker, Martin Romualdez, in the hijacking of the 2025 flood control funds, hasn’t been questioned — and public works and highways undersecretary Roberto Bernardo have accused Marcos of robbing the nation of P70 billion, an amount 47 times what Estrada was alleged to have stolen from taxpayers’ money. 

With the extensive details Co and Bernardo disclosed, they couldn’t have been lying. Why would they go against the most powerful man in the country, mobilizing only fabrications? They could have stopped at former speaker Romualdez, whom Marcos could have easily thrown under the bus. 

Yet here we have a cowardly and/or bribed Congress totally ignoring the allegations as if nothing had happened. Self-proclaimed leaders of civil society — among them,  priest Flaviano Villanueva who had been a shabu addict by his own admission; Roberto Reyes, an egoistic nut of a priest; and a former Marcos budget undersecretary, Cielo Magno, who can’t understand, deliberately or not, how Marcos hijacked the budget to raise kickbacks for him and Romualdez — have instead revived old, disproven charges against Vice President Sara Duterte to distract people’s attention away from the Marcoses.

Egoists

To say that these egoists seeking the media limelight are doing what they are doing for a fee, not because of a sickening ignorance of the law, would be praising them. Yet Magno is fooling us when she claims that her gang’s complaint is to resolve a “policy issue to guide us in the future on how we spend the people’s money.” This is just about the height of intellectual dishonesty. 

The ombudsman’s passivity is even more alarming. The Constitution and the Ombudsman Act were written precisely for moments like this: when the accused or their allies control other branches, when fear or patronage paralyzes regular checks and balances. The Ombudsman’s Office is mandated to act on its own, motu proprio, when there is reasonable ground to believe that an offense has been committed by a public official. Allegations involving the sitting president’s possible involvement in illicit enrichment and questionable deals are the textbook case for such initiative. To sit back and wait for a “perfect” complaint, fully documented and politically safe, is to abdicate that mandate.

Congress controls two powerful instruments: the power of the purse and the power of inquiry in aid of legislation. Both can be used to pry open the truth. Yet in the face of Co’s allegations — and the availability of other potential witnesses in agencies, local governments and the private sector — Congress has largely confined itself to theatrics and distractions. Hearings are convened on convenient enemies or marginal scandals, while anything that might lead too close to Malacañang is quietly steered away, diluted into “general corruption” talk, or buried in committee.

This is not just cowardice; it is complicity by omission. Lawmakers cannot pretend they lack the tools. They can subpoena documents: statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN); procurement records; bank and corporate registration documents; travel and immigration records; and government contracts that intersect with personalities named by Co. They can call to testify under oath not only the whistleblower but also those who signed, processed and benefited from these transactions. They can offer protection to insiders who are willing to talk but fear retribution. The refusal to do any of this transforms Congress from a check on executive power into a shield for it.

Inaction

If Congress’ inaction is visible, the Ombudsman’s Office’s silence is deafening. This office was inscribed in the 1987 Constitution as the “protector of the people,” precisely to investigate and prosecute high officials who appear to be above ordinary law enforcement. Its independence, security of tenure, and budgetary protection exist so that it can take on politically sensitive cases without having to beg permission from the very officials it must investigate.

In a situation where a sitting president is implicated by a politician from his own camp, the Ombudsman’s Office does not need a Senate circus or a House committee show. It needs an internal directive: gather the public statements, identify the factual claims, and quietly begin to test them against existing records. It can discreetly interview other witnesses — civil servants, businesspeople, even former allies — who can confirm or contradict Co’s story. Failure to even open a preliminary fact-finding effort signals to the bureaucracy and the public that the law will bend around those who sit at the apex of power.

One of the most dangerous myths now being peddled is that without a “smoking gun” from Co, there is nothing to investigate. That is nonsense. Corruption at the level suggested by these allegations cannot happen with only two or three conspirators. It leaves a trail of signatures, vouchers, corporate layers and human intermediaries: fixers, accountants, bagmen, chiefs of staff, local operators. Some of them are vulnerable, embittered, or simply tired of being the fall guys. Others have already been named, on and off the record. 

A serious Congress and an active ombudsman would quietly map this network and identify who is most likely to flip, who sits closest to the financial flows, who handled paperwork, and who coordinated logistics. They would look for overlaps between projects, budget insertions, favored contractors, and the known associates of the presidential circle. They would not wait for a single witness to do all their work for them. The state, at this point, is less constrained by lack of evidence than by lack of will.

Frightening

By failing to act decisively on Co’s accusations, Congress and the Ombudsman’s Office send a frightening message: If you come forward against the most powerful family in the country, you will stand alone. You will be used as a talking point by the media for a few days, then abandoned once the cameras move on. No institution will pick up the thread, subpoena the documents, or build the case that would vindicate your risk. This is how a culture of impunity reproduces itself. Each failure to act dissuades the next potential whistleblower from speaking.

(In next Monday’s column, I will narrate what rational and unbiased lawyers have concluded: That Philippine jurisprudence — that is, the rulings of the Supreme Court on similar cases — would be enough to rule Marcos guilty, if the ombudsman, that is, does his job.)

The elder Marcos destroyed the Republic in 1972 by imposing a military-backed authoritarian rule. The son is destroying the Republic restored in 1986 by weakening its two branches, Congress and the judiciary.

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Republic failing stress test
Source: Breaking News PH