Sacred cows?

I get the feeling that Sec. Vince Dizon is fighting this corruption battle all by himself now.

- BOO CHANCO

Sen. Ping Lacson is still there but a change in Senate leadership is a threat that can happen any moment.

Sen. JV Ejercito said he was thinking of leaving the majority because the leadership is burning their house down, failing to protect fellow senators.

Mayor Benjie Magalong’s resignation contributed to a fall in public trust with BBM’s sincerity to clean up. Mayor Magalong resigned after getting hints that some folks are getting antsy about his “spare-no-one” approach. As he puts it, “I struck a nerve.”

That contributed to the increasing unease that the Palace has sacred cows. Social media buzzed with rumors of a cover-up to protect the big ones.

My colleague, Val Villanueva, wrote in his Vantage Point column at Rappler that “sources close to the ICI told us how critical documents were withheld, field inspections got delayed and witnesses have suddenly begun ‘retracting’ testimonies after backroom meetings.

“Funding for technical audits was mysteriously slashed; legal support was bogged down by bureaucratic hairsplitting, according to them. Every move toward transparency met a countermove from within the same government that had sworn to uphold transparency and accountability in governance.

“It became clear that Magalong was being isolated — his independence perceived as a threat, rather than an asset... Magalong’s exit simply confirmed what reform advocates already suspected: the investigation was being steered away from the big fish.

“Lawmakers demanded ‘balance,’ contractors pleaded ‘context,’ and Cabinet men whispered about ‘political timing.’ The message was unmistakable: stop digging or be buried.”