Yesterday, I spoke with a friend here in South Korea, and we discussed the situation in our country. She was as gravely disappointed and angry as I was (just like the millions of our countrymen back home) by the blatant plunder of our national coffers. The story of the flood control program, a tragi-comedy, has taken many twists and turns, and the plot continues to thicken.

We agreed that it was right for the South Korean government to halt its P28-billion loan to the Philippines amid corruption concerns. I added that no financial institution anywhere in the world should lend to the Philippine government until those who stole from the nation’s coffers are brought to justice—and a transparent, foolproof system of government spending is implemented. Mga kapalmuks kayo, mangungutang tapos paghahati-hatian lang ninyo.

We disagreed as to who should be blamed for the flood control project scam. According to her, by virtue of command responsibility, the President is most guilty. She considers it improbable that the Chief Executive did not know about the wrongdoings of his alter egos from the very beginning. Why did it take him three years to expose the corruption happening right under his nose? His duty is supposedly to prevent such corruption practices from happening under his watch.  Did he only discover the substandard and ghost flood control projects this year? And why did he exclude himself from blame when he said, “Mahiya naman kayo” during his SONA a couple of months ago? That should have been “Mahiya naman tayo.”

And if these demonic acts of plunder also occurred during the times of Presidents Duterte, Aquino (Noynoy), Arroyo, Estrada, Ramos, and Aquino (Cory), then all of them should be held accountable as well. “Mahiya naman kayong lahat.”

I told her that blaming the President is correct. Still, half of the blame should be borne by the Filipino electorate who voted for those greedy politicians, fattening themselves like pigs in the supposedly august halls of Congress, now nothing more than a stinking sty of corruption.

We deserve the leaders we elect. There are many Filipinos who are very angry with what the politicians are doing, not realizing that they should be partly to blame for what is happening because they voted for those corrupt leaders. The truth is “Nakakahiya tayong lahat.”

Suppose we are genuinely seeking accountability and transparency. Why is nobody suggesting that the yearly National Budget from the time of Cory Aquino (1986) to Marcos (2025) be scrutinized and checked to see how the budget of DPWH (and other government agencies) was allocated each year? It is not only the records of the budget of the DPWH that should be scrutinized but all the departments of the Executive branch. The records will definitely show who, among the Senators and Congressmen (past and present), made “insertions.” A thorough investigation and accounting should be made to determine who among the members of the Executive and Legislative branches of government, past and present, colluded to plunder the nation’s coffers. The truth is written in all those documents.

We also agreed that the Philippine government, as presently constituted, has lost its credibility to govern. Which branch of government is trustworthy now? The Executive or the Legislative branch?
That is for you (the readers) to answer. But as far as I and the friend I talked to yesterday are concerned, it’s scary to entrust the future of our nation to anybody from Malacañang, the House of Representatives, and the Senate.

What about the Judiciary? Can the Filipino people trust our Justices? Did they perform their solemn duty to intervene and restore constitutional order when they were flooded with petitions challenging the constitutionality of the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA)? What happened to their hearings? Did they do something to prevent the kleptomaniacs from dipping their hands into jars of people’s money? None that I could recall (and please correct me if I am wrong).  

If none of the three branches of government could be unequivocally trustworthy, what about the fourth estate, the media? Do they genuinely care about the Filipino people? My answer is simple: they are too busy building their business empires.

But if neither government nor media can be trusted, then the responsibility ultimately falls on us, the Filipino people.

The last question we addressed in our conversation was, ‘What should be done?’

What should the Filipinos do now?

I was surprised that she was thinking the same thing I was… REVOLUTION.

We agreed that all the investigations being done by both the lower and upper chambers of Congress on the flood control project anomalies will amount to nothing. Even the planned independent commission cannot be expected to be genuinely independent. The loyalty of the members belongs to the authorities that appointed them.

Politicians have their way of sweeping under the rug the messes of their colleagues. They have mastered the art of compromise to such an extent that, in the end, only the lowly contractors will serve prison time.

Meanwhile, the equally guilty, high-ranking individuals in the government—who belong to wealthy and powerful families—will only receive a slap on the wrist.

Honestly, I have entirely lost my faith in our government. I don’t know who among them can be trusted. Even the international community has doubts about the moral ascendancy of our leaders to hold the reins of government. The South Korean government is the first to cast doubt on the trustworthiness of our government. And soon, other countries may. For the first time in my life, I find myself hesitating to say I’m from the Philippines.

Somehow, the only credible government institution now is the Military. They are our “second-to-last” hope. They need to take control of the government, either peacefully or by force. Everybody in the government must resign. The Military must investigate the widespread corruption and send to jail all those who are found guilty. They must do a comprehensive audit and accounting of all government expenditures. They must start with the yearly National Budget from the time the Marcos dictatorship ended up to this year. They should not leave any stone unturned.

The crooks must be prevented from running for any public office. When finally justice is served, the military shall order new elections to elect a new government.

If the military will not take over, we could be heading in the direction that the Indonesians and the Nepalese went. We must not allow the present government officials to continue running the affairs of government.

As I said before, the Military is our “second-to-last” hope. But our final hope—the true hope—rests with us, the Filipino people.

It’s time to breach party lines and set aside ideological differences. Let’s stop supporting any politician and stand together in love for our country. The slogan should be clear: “Save Our Nation,” not “Save a Politician.” We have been exploited and betrayed by greedy politicians for too long—it’s time to take back our country.

And when the time comes to exercise our freedom of suffrage again, we must vote for the most qualified leaders. It’s time to weed out the politicians and choose leaders who are true statesmen, not career (greedy) politicians.

It’s time to reclaim our nation. The time is now. When we march to the streets, bring no party banners, only our nation’s flag.