Will this time be different?

Pardon this old man for being cynical about where all the angst and anger will eventually bring us. We all want some people, preferably high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats as well as free-spending contractors to rot in jail.

- BOO CHANCO

The odds are high no such thing will happen.

The Sandiganbayan was about to promulgate its decision on the 15 graft cases against Juan Ponce Enrile, his former chief of staff Gigi Reyes and businesswoman Janet Napoles but at the last minute announced a postponement. The clerk of court said something about having to deliberate on a "reflection" submitted by one of the justices in the division.

It isn't likely that the Sandiganbayan will convict anyone with the stature of the 101-year-old Enrile. Gigi Reyes spent a few years in jail before she was eventually granted bail. A long list of legislators was linked to the scam but only Napoles is currently serving time.

The Sandiganbayan has so far only convicted one high official, former president Erap, who was promptly pardoned by then president GMA.

A few months ago, with the public uproar on how Congress legalized their robbery in the 2025 NEP with insertions, I asked a former senator if it was still worthwhile expressing disgust about corruption. It seems legislators and bureaucrats have developed extremely thick skin. They can no longer be shamed by a public scandal.

The former senator encouraged me to keep on writing and more of mass media, traditional or social, should keep the pressure. Some may yet get wary of the potential public reaction if they get too greedy.

And believe it or not, there are more than a few of them who are uneasy about the system they found themselves in. These officials need encouragement to re-discover their personal sense of ethics and propriety before they were elected or appointed into office.