Slower economic growth is expected until early 2026, and a spooked S and P Global Ratings held back from upgrading the Philippines’ credit rating, according to the finance secretary himself.
Earlier, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission had also blabbed that the stock market had been hit by the corruption scandal that continues to unfold. Although the numbers are far lower than what he erroneously quoted, that’s still billions in market value wiped out due to the flood control mess.
There are warnings that the corruption scandal, which involves institutional theft of public funds through creative budgeting, could also put the country back on the gray list of countries under closer monitoring for money laundering by the global dirty money watchdog Financial Action Task Force.
Several foreign aid donors, meanwhile, are worried that their development projects in our country, backed by funds from their taxpayers, will be stalled indefinitely because counterpart funding has been relegated to unprogrammed appropriations in the national budget.
We’re in a state of national emergency, with few emergency solutions – meaning speedy, decisive actions that can reassure the world that we Filipinos are not all thieves, and that long-term, meaningful reforms are on the way.
While some transparency has been injected into the budget process, with lawmakers promising to livestream the bicameral conference on the 2026 outlay, the House of Representatives, now under new management, still voted overwhelmingly to approve P243 billion in unprogrammed appropriations. Even Malacañang defended the move.
The Independent Commission for Infrastructure, chaired by a retired Supreme Court justice, is as opaque as the SC in its proceedings. New and understaffed, the ICI seems overwhelmed by the enormity of its task.
People impatient for transparency and results are starting to see the ICI as just a redundant layer of bureaucracy – an unnecessary additional expense in probing corruption anomalies.
This perception is being reinforced by the actions and pronouncements of new Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, who has brought a welcome breeze of transparency blowing through the anti-graft body.
Among Remulla’s first acts has been to restore public access to the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth of public officials. His new rules on accessing the SALN, however, include certain qualifications from requesting parties that he may have to fine-tune.
The rules appear tailored around Republic Act 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. RA 6713 provides the enabling provision for the constitutional mandate on public disclosure of the asset declarations.
But RA 6713 was passed in 1989, long before the age of social media and e-government, and still generally follows practices before SALNs were concealed from the public for the past five years.
Today, when public disclosure is announced, people expect the data to be accessible online, with no need to formally request for paper copies that call for the payment of a minimal fee, as provided under RA 6713.
The law may need amending to adjust to digital technology. The Commission on Elections may also have to factor in this matter in its pronouncement of making public the statements of contributions and expenditures filed by candidates. The SOCEs cannot be accessed on the Comelec website.
Still, Remulla’s order on the SALNs has been widely welcomed, after five years of having them under lock and key when Samuel Martires was the ombudsman. Congress is under pressure to follow the ombudsman’s lead. We’re still waiting for similar moves from the Comelec, the Commission on Audit and the judiciary.
Martires, who was plucked by Duterte from the Supreme Court, ran the Office of the Ombudsman like the SC – with utmost secrecy. We’re seeing the same thing in the ICI, headed by another retired SC justice, with its spokesman also from the high tribunal.
In a strong republic, where there is genuine majesty of the law, the secrecy would be deemed to be in keeping with the presumption of innocence, and for allowing due process to take its course.
In our weak, dysfunctional republic, the secrecy is seen as Kevlar for crooks, a tool for negotiating the best justice that money can buy. It is seen as an excuse for expensive lawyers to drown victims in legal gobbledygook and delaying tactics, until the case can be dismissed for ‘inordinate delay.’
Remulla, if he could have his way, will not stand for it. He has vowed to put together airtight cases against the looters, and he indicates he can even do without the selective ‘tell-all, plus-plus’ of Curlee and Sarah Discaya, and without waiting for recommendations from the ICI.
After filing the cases before the Sandiganbayan, Remulla is expected to invoke the speedy trial law and rules issued by the Supreme Court. RA 8493, the Speedy Trial Act, was passed way back in 1998. It limits court trials to 180 days from the first day of trial, although it provides several exceptions.
The SC has also issued several guidelines to speed up trial, but implementation and sanctions for failure to comply have been weak.
Still, by Remulla’s reckoning, court litigation for the first batch of cases that he promises to file ASAP can be completed within one month.
That’s right, one month. Even with delaying tactics usually employed by the defense, the case could drag on for six months, but surely less than a year, Remulla told ‘Storycon’ on One News last Wednesday.
Among the offenses that he believes are backed by strong evidence are malversation and graft violations through conflict of interest. Tax evasion cases are also being readied. Indictments for the heavier offense of plunder, which may prove more difficult to put together in the absence of signatures and a clear money trail, can come later.
At the start of Storycon, I congratulated Remulla for getting the new post that he applied for. He urged us to hold the congratulations, until such time that we can say he deserves it.