The number of people actually behind bars for anomalies in flood control spending is, to Senator Robinhood Padilla, the clearest measure of how little the government has accomplished — and it is why he handed the Marcos administration a failing mark. Speaking on Super Radyo dzBB, he put a figure on his disappointment: “Two [ang binibigay kong grado.] Eh baha pa eh. Wala pa naman ako nakita masyadong nakulong diyan,”
Padilla’s larger worry is that the reckoning will be uneven. He argued that some past detentions had less to do with wrongdoing than with score-settling. “Napakadaming listahan niyan. Unang una ang tingin ko diyan pulitika. Ang tingin ko diyan sa pagkakakulong nung mga ‘yun [Sen. Jinggoy Estrada at dating Sen. Bong Revilla] ay pulitika,” he said, then insisted no name escape scrutiny: “Imbestigahan lahat. Huwag tayong mamili. Huwag tayo maging pulitikal. Ang ating bayan ay ipinaglaban ng mga bayani natin para magkaroon tayo ng hustisya, nasaan ‘yun?”
The same principle, he said, should govern the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte, where his push to open financial records was never meant to single out one person. “Nung sinabi kong buksan natin ang ating bank records, ibig sabihin nun, ‘wag tayong one-sided. Si Vice President lang ang magbubukas?” the senator said. He pledged to judge her only on what the trial produces: “Natural, of course. Kaya nga tayo nagsasalita diyan para makuha natin ang totoong nangyari. Kung ako nakaupo lang diyan at hindi nagsasalita, dun kayo magduda. Pero hangga’t ako ay tumatayo diyan at hinahalungkat kung ano ang totoo, ano ang dapat pagdudahan dun?”
That impeachment case reached a turning point when Day 9 closed. The House prosecution had built its final stretch around claims that the Vice President arranged contingency killings of the President, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez. National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag, called as the panel’s last witness, testified that Duterte “consummated betrayal of public trust” in publicly stating she had hired someone to kill Marcos and others should she herself be killed.
Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito — Estrada’s half-brother — echoed Padilla’s impatience, saying he wants names surfaced and people held to account. “Ang gusto kong marinig, kung ano ‘yung sagot na dun sa nasabing ‘mahiya naman kayo.’ Sana mayroon na talagang mapangalanan,” he said, adding: “Sana madagdagan pa [ang mga makakasuhan kaugnay sa flood control scam]. Sa akin, dapat panagutin at dalhin sa kulungan ang lahat ng nagwaldas at nagbulsa ng pondong inilaan sa flood control.”
For Ejercito, the scandal points to a deeper gap in how the country builds. He cast stronger infrastructure planning as both an economic imperative and a check on waste. “Yung infrastructure development, tingin ko ito ang kailangan ng ating bansa para makahabol tayo sa ekonomiya. We need to improve our infrastructure, railway system, airports, and ports,” he said, later adding: “We will hit two birds with one stone. Kapag may master plan na tayo for infrastructure and national development, maiiwasan na ‘yung mga ganitong anomalya, na kumbaga, basta magproyekto na lang kahit hindi kailangan.”
Ahead of the President’s address, Padilla said he expects Marcos to take up El Niño mitigation, the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and relations with China. He named the Freedom of Information bill and a proposed social media ban for those 16 and younger as measures he believes should reach the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council agenda.
The trial is suspended to make room for Marcos’s SONA on Monday, July 27, and the Senate minority’s Kontra-SONA on Tuesday, July 28, before resuming Wednesday, July 29 under a revised 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. schedule.
On Charter Change, Padilla drew a careful line. He supports it in principle but resists any move now, warning it could be read as an effort to keep sitting officials in office longer. “Kung gagawin man nila ngayon ‘yan, siyempre susuporta ako dahil ‘yan ay aking ipinaglalaban. Pero dapat walang makikinabang na uupo na makikinabang diyan sa mga nakaupo ngayon. Wala dapat para fair tayo,” the senator said.
