Sustain the outrage

SKETCHES

- ANA MARIE PAMINTUAN

See what public outrage can do? All those months of horse-trading and revision of the English dictionary failed to save Francis Escudero from being washed away by the public fury over flood control projects and the lifestyles of the obscenely rich and infamous.

Perhaps as Escudero's last hurrah (according to indignant congressmen) and parting shot at the House, the Senate Blue Ribbon committee under Rodante Marcoleta allowed contractor Pacifico "Curlee" Discaya to read his and wife Sarah's sworn affidavit, tagging congressmen and officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the flood control anomalies, and implying the involvement of Speaker Martin Romualdez.

A flood of angry denials followed the Discayas' statement, which their political opponent Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto warned could be studded with lies.

Yesterday, after grilling Curlee Discaya, the chair of the House infra committee dismissed the affidavit as a mere "scrap of paper" for, among other things, having an expired notarization.

The statement in fact looks like a mishmash of half-truths and outright self-serving lies meant to portray the Discayas as victims. If they hadn't flaunted their ginormous wealth before getting caught, people might have bought the attempt at victimhood.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, now the Senate president pro tempore, has been burned previously by unreliable witnesses, so he can be expected to treat the Discayas' affidavit with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Also at the House yesterday, dismissed DPWH Bulacan assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez claimed Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva pushed some P955 million in project insertions in the national budget, and received kickbacks amounting to 30 percent of the project costs.