Investigating corruption, Philippine style Greg Macabenta THE FOLKS at my favorite watering hole in Daly City have been following two hot topics in the Philippines. The FIBA championship quest of the Philippine basketball team (which it lost to Iran, sayang!) and the 10-billion PDAF scam. Now, they only have the PDAF scam to follow. The trouble is, not much is being reported on it by Philippine newspapers, except for one leading daily, which has apparently been scooping every other paper in town. In fact, the hard-working reporters of that daily appear to be scooping even the NBI, which is supposed to be “looking into the allegations.” (Note the walk-the-chalk-line reference to the case). As a matter of fact, if you want to read the gory details of the Mother of All Scams, your only other option is to go online. It’s all over Facebook, Twitter and an online investigative Web site. “Why hasn’t the NBI arrested any of the suspects?” the folks at the watering hole asked me, as if I knew the answer. “That’s because they’re only suspects,” replies Pedro, who has obviously been closely following the case. “Nobody has been indicted, no charges have been filed, therefore no warrant of arrest has been issued.” “Has the NBI raided the offices of JLN -- I think that stands for Janet Lim Napoles -- the company that has been accused of masterminding this?” “Maybe yes, maybe no,” says Pedro. “No news on that angle.” “What about the offices of the senators and congressmen who have been implicated in the case? Have their records been quarantined?” “You try that on members of the Philippine Congress and you’ll end up without a job -- if you’re lucky,” cuts in Johnny, who used to work for a congressman. “And if you’re not lucky?” asks Jimmy the bartender. “They’ll find you at La Loma Cemetery,” replies Johnny knowingly. “In the US, the FBI would padlock the offices of the suspects, cart off the computers, go through the files and make sure that nothing is spirited away,” says Jimmy, a former FBI operative. “That’s SOP.” “Well, investigating corruption Philippine-style is different from the US,” clarifies Pedro. “SOP in the Philippines is to call a press conference and announce the impending investigation of the scam.” “That’s in order to give the suspects a chance to hide the evidence, burn incriminating records and erase any connections to the case,” Johnny, the former Congress worker, explains. “Why would the NBI or the Department of Justice allow that to happen?” Jimmy asks again. Jimmy has always been naïve. Johnny just manages to keep from sounding patronizing: “Because, if the NBI agents were to gather incriminating evidence, they wouldn’t know what to do with it. By allowing the suspects to hide the evidence, the NBI agents can honestly say that they tried but found nothing.” “Shouldn’t the Senate conduct an inquiry into the case? After all, some of its members have been implicated,” Jimmy speaks up again. This time, Johnny has lost his patience: “BECAUSE the case, precisely, involves members of the Senate. Any senator crazy enough to investigate a fellow senator will soon find his own skeletons being exposed. Gusto ba nila iyon?” “I understand,” Jimmy nods, chastened. But he isn’t done: “What about the House of Representatives? Why don’t the congressmen conduct an investigation?” ‘BECAUUUUSSE......!!!” Johnny almost yells, upset at Jimmy’s naïveté. Pedro comes to Jimmy’s rescue. “You know, hijo, in the Philippines, they observe the quid pro quo. That’s Latin for ‘You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.’” “By why would they observe that?” “To keep the peace, IDIOT!” Even Pedro has lost his patience with Jimmy. And Pedro goes on: “Haven’t you noticed that even Noynoy Aquino, who’s supposed to be the Most Honest President the Philippines Has Ever Had has not been saying anything about the case?” “But why?” Jimmy just manages to squeak. “Interdepartmental courtesy, TANGA!” snaps Pedro. “Malacañang will not meddle with the Congress if the President wants cooperation from the lawmakers. And you have to understand that, if President Aquino wants progress for the Philippines, he must have the full cooperation of both houses of Congress.” The folks at the watering hole finally turn to me with their questions, apparently thinking that I have some inside dope on the case. “All I know is what I’ve read in the papers,” I say. “And that’s just one newspaper, really. The other dailies have more important news to report on.” “What could be more important than 10-billion of the people’s money being stolen?” Mario, who has been quiet all along, chimes in. “Well,” says Pedro, “according to PNoy, the 10-billion scam is nothing compared to what has been stolen before.” “But according to Noynoy’s spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, the President has given instructions to Secretary of Justice Leila de Lima to conduct an exhaustive investigation of the allegations,” cuts in Johnny, in an obvious defense of Aquino. “In other words, the President is concerned,” I clarify. “Then why has he been very quiet about the case these past days?” ask several folks in the watering hole. “We also notice that the usually militant civil society leaders have not made any statement concerning the case,” says Mario. “Oh, they’re also concerned,” Johnny explains. “They just want to give the NBI a chance to finish its investigation.” “And the other newspapers? Why have they not been writing about the case?” “Well, maybe they don’t want to be seen as gaya-gaya with the other daily that has been pursuing it. Besides, there are really other important issues to write about.” “Like what?” “Like... don’t you think, Manny Pangilinan should take over the Philippine Olympic Committee? Then maybe the Philippines will finally have another silver medal, like in the FIBA.” bworldonline/content.php?section=Opinion&title=Investigating-corruption%2C-Philippine-style&id=74860
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 08:10:39 +0000
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