The August Twenty-One Movement (ATOM) on Tuesday called out the Marcos administration over the ‘prolonged inaction’ on the irregularities surrounding the flood control projects, questioning how the promise to go after the big fish remained undone.
‘To test the limits of our people’s patience would be foolish at this time,’ said Volt Bohol, president of ATOM, a group following the assassination of former Sen. Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino Jr. in 1983.
Despite the daily protests being held by various groups, the government has yet to make good on its pledge to prosecute the individuals tagged in the anomalies surrounding the state-funded projects, Bohol said.
He pointed out how the daily protests were unique since the post-Aquino assassination of 1983, but officials and private contractors who were tagged in the scandal have yet to be prosecuted completely.
‘The people are getting exhausted. More and more are taking their calls to the streets. Learn from our history. If you see something like this, it is a warning,’ Bohol said.
He also called out the legislative branch, as well as the Independent Commission for Infrastructure, over their ‘usual diversionary tactics to make the people forget about this issue, like they usually do with past scandals.’
‘No amount of shoving this under the rug can make the people forget this time,’ Bohol said.
The group demanded that all ICI reports and findings by the Commission on Audit be released to the public, as well as the publication of timelines and status updates by the ICI.
The Marcos administration should also prioritize speed in the prosecution and not the ‘spectacle,’ by proceeding with the prosecution of the tagged individuals.
‘But if there is someone who continues to give our country hope, this is our people,’ Bohol said.
‘This drive against corruption is not just the duty of organizations like ATOM or activists; this is now a movement for every Filipino citizen to participate in.’ /gsg