Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Then Senator Benigno Aquino III’s anti-corruption platform gave him a solid mandate to win the presidency in 2010.
At the top of his agenda, Aquino vowed to hold alleged corrupt officials accountable.
In mid-2012, the Senate — convened as an impeachment court — ousted then Chief Justice Renato Corona over discrepancies in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net worth (SALN).
He is facing criminal and civil cases at the Sandiganbayan.
In October 2012, former Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was arrested on plunder charges.
In 2014, three senators and their associates were arrested over their alleged involvement in a pork barrel scam.
Pushing for transparency
Despite the arrests and charges against high officials, political analyst Edmund Tayao finds the President’s anti-corruption campaign still deficient.
Tayao explains that the President failed to push for measures that could deter corruption through transparency, such as the Freedom of Information Bill.
He adds President Aquino should have focused on strengthening institutions involved in going after erring officials.
“Pag sinabi natin na anti-corruption, this is part of the justice system. And if you’re going to look at any achievement, it shouldn’t be only by counting the number of those jailed,” Tayao said.
[Translation: If we say anti-corruption, this is part of the justice system. And if you’re going to look at any achievement, it shouldn’t be only by counting the number of those jailed.]
Allies spared?
Even with several graft cases now pending at the Sandiganbayan, Tayao says these have so far focused on the administration’s so-called political enemies.
“You can’t avoid but also consider that this so-called advocacy is only an effort to neutralize the opposition,” said Tayao.
The counsel for private complainants in the pork scam cases agrees.
Levito Baligod says the administration is delaying the filing of charges against a third batch of individuals supposedly involved in the pork barrel scam.
He adds administration allies, such as former CIBAC Partylist Representative and now TESDA chief Joel Villanueva and Cagayan De Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez, are included in the list.
“Halos dalawang taon na nasa custody ng Department of Justice yung mga dokumento na ito, at naalala ko in June 2014, [the] Secretary of Justice announced, made a commitment to already file the third batch pero iyang promise na iyan mahigit isang taon nang hindi natutupad,” Atty. Baligod said.
[Translation: The documents have been under the custody of the Department of Justice for two years already. As I remember in June 2014, the Secretary of Justice made a commitment to file the third batch, but that promise has not been fulfilled for more than a year now.]
Justice Secretary Leila De Lima says there was no politics in the probe of individuals tagged in the pork scandal. Proof of this, she adds, was the filing of charges against former Customs chief Ruffy Biazon — an Aquino ally.
But Baligod claims Biazon was a sacrificial lamb.
“Namimili nalang sila for one to create the impression that the administration is not selective in prosecuting those responsible in the pdaf scam” Baligod says.
What’s next?
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales says she is prosecuting individuals linked to scandals regardless of their political affiliation.
“We go by the evidence. Hindi puwedeng ma-pressure ka . Otherwise, I have no reason for being here if I’ll allow my self na ma-pressure ng ibang tao,” Morales says.
[Translation: We go by the evidence. You can’t be pressured. Otherwise, I have no reason for being here if I’ll allow my self get pressured by other people.]
With less than a year left in his term, analysts say the president’s chance to carry out real change in government has passed.
