The missing link: The masterminds at DPWH, Congress

EYES WIDE OPEN

- IRIS GONZALES

In investigations here in the Philippines, there are almost always smoke and mirrors, fall guys and those protecting themselves, while the big fish, the masterminds themselves, are not being named.

It's no different in Tuesday's hearings. The big fish are not being identified and yet they are the missing links in this circle of corruption. If the ongoing probe in the Senate and the House of Representatives does not identify them, this will be just another zarzuela.

Don't get me wrong. The investigation against contractors and the district engineers (DEs) is a step in the right direction, but those behind the system that enabled these contractors and DEs to perpetuate this cycle of corruption are the missing links.

The Marcos administration must see through that and go after them. Who might they be? Some of them are ranking officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the lawmakers they are in cahoots with. They are the links between the lawmakers — who release the funds — and the DEs and contractors who, in turn, implement the projects.

Follow the money trail

If President Marcos is serious about his investigation, he will look into the whole process and identify the brains behind this institutionalized corruption. He will see where the money trail begins and ends.

But can lawmakers really investigate their own? Can this cycle of corruption in flood control projects really end?

Only time will tell.