End Philippine patronage politics

The ongoing investigations and scandals regarding the flood control corruption have revealed the basic weaknesses in the Philippine political system.

- Elfren S. Cruz

While it is true that certain DPWH personnel have been terminated and cases have been filed against some contractors, the glaring omission is that the so-called "big fish" have not been touched and are allowed to go on with their normal lives.

It may be difficult to believe that the senators and congressmen who have been accused of being the real culprits by being the authors of the budget insertions are still serving as full-fledged members in Congress. In fact, some of the accused are actually sitting in committees entrusted to investigate the anomalous flood control projects. This may seem impossible to believe but it is true.

There is really a present pressing need to organize an independent commission. However, as of this writing, the presidential Executive Order on the investigative commission has been issued but the members have not yet been named. The initial names that have been floated seem to be the ideal persons with the qualifications of integrity and judicial knowledge required. There are rumors that there is difficulty on finding the right persons who are willing to accept this difficult assignment. If this is true, this is a very tragic situation where we cannot find three people with the integrity, intelligence and courage out of a population of nearly 120 million.