By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
Coming off an edgy Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC)–led anti-corruption and transparency protest at the Quirino Grandstand, we now find ourselves five days away from the second Trillion Peso March. This time, as it is resoundingly called for by the Catholic Church, it would be nice to surpass the 550,000 or so who filled Luneta under INC banners to magnify even more public discontent.
But more than crowd size, I hope this does not become an interfaith numbers contest. Some supporters from both sides have already begun boasting online, as if the fight for clean government were a competition of religious muscle. It should not be.
Let us keep our eyes on the ball — that ball being the removal of systemic corruption in government, not on which faith can mobilize more bodies in the park.
Having said that, we must also acknowledge an uncomfortable but necessary truth that while our public anger is justified, what is happening today is not proof of absolute failure in the justice system. This is important if we want punishment and comeuppance to those in high places who squandered our taxes.
Let me point out that recent decisions in several high-profile cases show that our legal system can work. Of course, while we may all agree it is imperfect… it works! Justice can be served in this country, and power does not always protect the powerful.
Last week, Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, accused of facilitating trafficking operations linked to Chinese criminal syndicates, was convicted. A Pasig court sentenced her and several associates to life imprisonment after consolidating eight criminal cases involving forced labor and fraud inside the Baofu compound.
Despite political pressure, confusion over her nationality, and attempts to derail the process, the courts pressed forward. Guo was not only dismissed from office and declared ineligible, but she is now on her way to serve time.
Likewise, the Olongapo Regional Trial Court swiftly sentenced international drug smuggler Kong Ket Koon to life imprisonment after authorities seized ₱10 billion worth of shabu aboard his vessel. PDEA officials hailed the conviction as fast and clear.
We can also cite the Supreme Court’s recent affirmation of the graft conviction of former Quezon City Councilor Dante de Guzman for over ₱6.4 million in ghost relief items. His defense — that his signatures were forged — was rejected by both the Sandiganbayan and the High Court. Here, again, is an example that the process worked methodically and decisively.
And then there is Janet Lim Napoles, the country’s most infamous symbol of syndicated corruption before this year’s flood control projects and its sinister crews in government and the construction industry came to light.
Napoles, already convicted multiple times for plunder, for money laundering in 2024, and other devious crimes, was again put away this year for 13 additional counts of laundering pork barrel funds. Despite layers of concealment, fake NGOs, and collusion with public officials, the truth still pierced through.
So, while we protest in the streets and air our disgust over the government, let us demand that those behind today’s flood control and DPWH scandals face the full force of the law. But we must do so within the Constitution, not over it, and without burning the system to the ground or installing new leaders whose own histories with public funds are far from impeccable.
Reform is necessary. Outrage is justified. But let’s seek justice without bringing down our government and allowing opportunists — who may be even more corrupt — to take the wheel.
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