Legitimacy

Public outrage over corruption is quickly spiraling into a crisis of legitimacy for the whole of government.

- ALEX MAGNO

Last week, 30 respected business associations issued a rare public statement calling for the establishment of an independent citizen's commission to look into the corruption — beginning with the obviously looted flood control projects. Between the lines, what this statement is saying is that our people have lost trust in the standing institutions to get to the bottom of the problem.

The last time an independent commission was set up due to public pressure was over four decades ago, shortly after the assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr. stunned the nation. With protests swirling in the streets and international confidence in our country dropping through the floor, Ferdinand E. Marcos was constrained to establish the Agrava Commission to investigate the crime.

By conceding the independent commission, the beleaguered Marcos government understood that no other standing agency will be trusted by the public: not the investigative agencies of the executive branch, not the legislature and not even the judicial system. By extension, it was an admission that the Marcos regime had lost all legitimacy.

The Agrava Commission labored under conditions of encompassing regime control. But the people gave it the benefit of the doubt. The nation observed the proceedings intently. In the end, the Commission did throw out the crummy official version of what happened: that a lone communist assassin penetrated tight airport security and killed the former senator. But the Commission fell short of fully identifying the ultimate perpetrators of this brazen crime.