No ‘big fish:’ A strategy of delay and fatigue

Last December, Filipinos were promised accountability. By late January, what we are left with is frustration, exhaustion, confusion and the sinking realization that justice had been deliberately denied us.

President Marcos Junior and the ombudsman gave assurances that the “big fish” behind the multibillion-peso flood control scandal would be arrested by Dec. 15. It was a bold promise – one that signaled that this administration shared our rage.

Dec. 15 came and went. No warrants. No arrests. No explanation.

The President did not even bother to address the missed deadline. The ombudsman offered no real clarification – just another appeal for patience.

Motion without direction

December was not entirely devoid of activity. Congressional hearings continued. Audit findings were recycled. Officials spoke at length about procedures and future reforms. Yet nothing translated to the arrests of “big fish,” let alone systemic reforms.

In the end, what the public witnessed was not justice moving forward, but government endlessly moving in circles.

The President and the ombudsman insist that they are merely ensuring the cases are airtight. But while both wallow in bureaucratic and legal procedures, those suspected of fraud gained precious time to move stolen funds abroad, intimidate witnesses and sanitize paper trails. Some fled abroad like rats in a sinking ship.

This administration’s lack of urgency stands in stark contrast to the public’s anger. If the President and the ombudsman truly shared our rage, arrests would have come swiftly. Instead, hesitation reigns and moving in circles is the modus operandi.

One begins to wonder whether delay is the point of it all – delays to give their guilty friends the space to escape. We are beginning to think that the testimonies of the guilty will eventually lead to President Marcos, his family and friends. So the strategy is to wear the public down with bits of “progress,” but never arrests, until our rage turns to apathy.

And then came the suicide of undersecretary Catalina Cabral. She played a critical role in the implementation of flood control scams. Her death, albeit poetic, raised questions about the pressure she had probably undergone from the real mastermind/s.

With her death, testimonies that could have implicated the guilty are now forever lost. Defense lawyers gain room to argue reasonable doubt.

What made this worse was the absence of decisive leadership in the aftermath. Neither the President nor the ombudsman laid a clear path on how the investigation would proceed following this setback.

This lack of direction is also evident in the ICI. By December, the ICI was reportedly drifting toward dissolution, with its functions to be absorbed by the Office of the Ombudsman. What happened next? Momentum stalled. Coordination weakened. Authority blurred. Investigators hesitated, unsure who was truly in charge. Matters relating to the ICI remain adrift.

All these were not a mere procedural hiccup. It was a failure of leadership on PBBM’s part. Another failure. Why? Because every day lost to confusion benefits those under investigation, allowing evidence to fade and accountability to slip further out of reach.

Taken together, these developments paint a troubling picture: a President who launched a fight against flood control corruption but now appears unwilling – or unable – to see it through.

For his part, the ombudsman has yet to explain why the promised arrests have not materialized more than a month after Dec. 15. Instead, what the public hears are endless pleas for more patience.

But Filipinos are tired. Angry. Frustrated. There is no more patience to give.

Like I said, with all that is happening, it is reasonable to suspect that delay and fatigue is the strategy of this administration. Drag investigations long enough until outrage fades. Make proceedings technical enough that only experts remain engaged. Allow just enough activity to claim progress, but never enough to truly threaten the powerful.

Such a strategy only makes sense if the trail of evidence leads to the top. It appears that Zaldy Co was right all along, at least the part where he said billions were delivered to PBBM and cousin, Martin Romualdez.

Corruption only reduced, not removed

The most damning evidence that the system has not fundamentally changed lies in the 2026 budget.

Despite the ongoing scandal, lawmakers once again inserted P150.9 billion in unappropriated funds into the 2026 budget. These allocations have all the hallmarks of the same discretionary practices that fueled abuses in the 2025 budget. And PBBM approved it again.

Evidently, the machinery that enabled abuse has not been dismantled – only recalibrated.

No matter how PBBM’s administration manipulates the truth, one fact remains: allowing the real “big fish” to evade accountability carries consequences far beyond this scandal. It locks the country into a permanent cycle where only the small are punished, while the powerful are protected. It teaches future officials that corruption is not a career- or life-ending sin, but a survivable, profitable risk – so long as one is well-connected.

Over time, this corrodes the foundations of the state – whatever is left of it. Laws exist on paper but bent and twisted in practice. Citizens learn that integrity is only for fools and to be corrupt is to be smart.

The economic cost is just as severe. A country that cannot punish corruption cannot escape poverty. Public funds meant for development are siphoned away, growth is stunted and inequality deepens.

What we are witnessing is not an urgent pace of justice by President Marcos, but a pattern of deliberate delays. December should have been the start of accountability. Instead, it exposed a darker reality: through calculated inaction and delays, this administration is actively reinforcing the corruption legacy of Marcos Senior. We are witnessing, right before our eyes, another generation of Filipinos destroyed by the culture of corruption.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aj_masigan