Blowback

FIRST PERSON

- ALEX MAGNO

That table with tens of millions of pesos in cold cash is a sight that will long haunt us. No other photograph captures more perfectly the impunity with which our corrupted government steals from the people.

As congressional hearings were being conducted the other day, angry Nepalese citizens have set their parliament on fire, ransacked the homes of politicians and threw out their government. Among the main reasons why rioting broke out were photos of outlandish ostentatiousness of politicians' children — their version of what we call here "nepo babies."

Those tone-deaf photographs circulated wildly through social media. The government responded by curtailing the internet. Next to flagrant corruption, that was the dumbest thing to do. The streets exploded with justifiable rage.

Nepal is now a country without a government. The army brought in all their helicopters to evacuate the political elite in imminent danger of public lynching.

A week before, street violence broke out in several Indonesian cities, sparked by the discovery that their legislators allocated $3,000 in monthly allowances for themselves. The people felt betrayed by that.

The provocations for a riot here are even more compelling. Filipinos are not less outraged by the betrayal of those who pretend to govern us. We are probably a little more patient — or momentarily entertained by the circus of congressional hearings going on.