Make sure the charges stick

More than three months af- ter President Marcos launched his anti-corruption campaign with a call for crooks to have some shame — “mahiya naman kayo” —serious criminal charg- es were recommended yester- day against his first cousin, former House speaker Martin Romualdez.

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The President himself broke the news early yesterday on what came hours later: the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure formally recommended to the Office of the Ombudsman the filing of charges for plunder, direct bribery and graft against Romualdez and the former chairman of the House appropriations committee, Elizaldy Co.

As the country has seen too often in the past, however, there’s a long, tortuous road between criminal indictment and final conviction, especially when big names are involved.