Institutional rot

News anchor Karmina Constantino posted a video commentary that resonated with me - and, I suspect, with most Filipinos. She reflected on government's anti-corruption drive and posed this question:

- ANDREW J. MASIGAN

Is all this for show? Her guest, Father Wilmer Tria, asserted that government's actions appear driven less by accountability and more by political survival - a way for the President and his allies to survive until 2028 without being implicated.

This suspicion grows stronger everyday.

Last week, the President boasted about nine contractors blacklisted, seven bank accounts frozen and 37 officials charged. These may seem bold, but in the context of this multibillion-peso scandal, they are little more than symbolic gestures.

Everyone agrees that the results of government's 100day investigation has been frustratingly underwhelming. Marcos defends the slow pace as prudence. He said, "It's better to be careful and take a little longer than to rush and make mistakes... We're afraid those linked to this shamelessness will get away with it because of a legal technicality."

While Malacañang takes its sweet time "building the case," many of those implicated have had their plundered wealth safely hidden overseas. Witnesses have been intimidated, neutralized or paid into silence. Zaldy Co's passport remains valid. Many of those implicated have fled the country, leaving government flatfooted. Worse, structural reforms to prevent institutional corruption from recurring is hardly in the conversation.

There is a difference between being careful and being deliberately slow. This administration appears to be releasing piecemeal developments to create an illusion of action. What we are seeing feels like delay by design - enough movement to claim action, but not to uncover the truth.

I'm beginning to think Constantino and Tria are right. This is all for show and all about political survival.

Zaldy Co's bombshell