Throw the plunderers in jail

EYES WIDE OPEN

- IRIS GONZALES

The only acceptable outcome of this grand thievery of taxpayers' money, flood control edition, is to bring the perpetrators to justice. File plunder and other appropriate charges against those involved in this jaw-dropping corruption.

Brice Ericson Hernandez, the dismissed Bulacan assistant district engineer (DE) of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), showed photographs of a table full of money inside the Bulacan first district engineering office — bundles of one thousand-peso and five hundred-peso bills. The funds were segregated for distribution to politicians and project proponents.

It's disheartening to look at these heaps of cash because, as a social media post pointed out, "behind every crisp bill is the blood, sweat and tears of ordinary Filipinos" — the middle class whose taxes are automatically withheld, the workers who consume goods and services and likewise have to pay the expensive VAT on almost everything and most especially those who endure the devastating effects of flooding when the rains come.

As this grand corruption scheme continues to unravel, authorities must already start filing charges against those involved. They can already start with the DPWH officials linked to ghost projects in Bulacan.

Plunder is just one charge that can be slapped against them. According to our laws, plunder is committed by a public officer who, by himself or in conspiracy with others, accumulates ill-gotten wealth through a series or combination of overt or criminal acts, amounting to at least P50 million.