Corrupting the corrupt

PERRYSCOPE
Perry Diaz

At first there was none. Then there was one. Then there were two. Then there were three, four. And then there were five! Who knows there might even be a sixth or a seventh… or an eighth!

What are we talking about here? A black list?A hit list?A shit list? Nope, it’s the “Napolist,” short for the Napoles List, which was supposed to show the names of legislators and other government officials who participated in the P10-billion pork barrel scam masterminded by Janet Lim-Napoles. Remember her?

Yep, it has been almost nine months since the celebrated “surrender” of Napoles to President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III. They had a private lunch in Malacañang’s Music Room and late in the night, P-Noy drove her to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Headquarters at Camp Crame. Wow! This is a first for a “world class” president to personally drive a criminal to her jailer. Okay, okay, let’s not get distracted here. Let’s get back on track.

Exercise in obfuscation

Napoles purportedly gave the first Napolist to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima when Napoles surrendered last August. Then former senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson announced saying that he, too, had a copy of the list that Napoles gave to de Lima. And soon after that, P-Noy claimed that he had received two lists before de Lima got hers. Hmm… are we having a pissing match here like who got the most or longest list?

Recently, Lacson gave his Napolist to Senate Blue Ribbon Chairman Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona III who then released it to the public. Not to be outdone, de Lima released her Napolist, which turned out to be identical to Lacson’s. Their lists contain the names of 12 senators, two cabinet officials, and 68 current and former congressmen.

But no sooner had Lacson and de Lima released their lists than BenhurLuy, the original whistleblower who “accidentally” exposed the Napoles scam, released his version of Napolist, which contained the names of 15 incumbent senators and 10 former senators.

Last May 16, Sandra Cam, the president of the Whistleblowers Association, revealed in a radio interview that she, too, had a copy of the Napolist, which includes at least 16 incumbent and former senators, two cabinet secretaries, and 82 incumbent and former congressmen. Cam reportedly got her Napolist from an “unimpeachable” source before the Holy Week.

Kleptocrats

Leading the list of senators on Cam’s list was Senate President Franklin Drilon, who Cam indicated was not on de Lima and Lacson’s lists. She claimed that Drilon tried to silence her through Agrarian Reform Assistant Secretary Alex Almario, who she alleged had close ties to Drilon. She also alleged that Drilon was Napoles’ protector in the Senate. Needless to say, Drilon denied all of Cam’s allegations.

But the most damning of Cam’s exposé was her version of Napoles’ affidavit, which alleged that Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Chief Florencio “Butch” Abad, was the “tutor” of the pork barrel scam. It was also alleged that Abad was one of the first clients of Napoles, and the one who taught Napoles how to expand her scam operations. “It was Abad who taught me about the scam operations,” Napoles was quoted as saying.

Another source reportedly said that the code name for Abad was “Straight” because when he got his kickbacks, they went straight to his pockets and straight to a Singapore bank. Abad is also known as the “Pork Barrel King.” The other cabinet secretary that Cam implicated was Department of Agriculture (DA) Chief Proceso Alcala, whom Cam alleged to be one of the big pork barrel beneficiaries. Indeed, many believe that Abad and Alcala were really the ones behind the pork barrel scam. “Abad releases the funds and Alcala executes the projects,” said one of the sources.

Abad, as DBM Chief, had total control of the disbursement of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), better known as pork barrel. Abad was also the architect of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), which is totally under his control and beyond the reach of Congress.

It is interesting to note that the Supreme Court had recently ruled, by a 14-0 vote, that PDAF was unconstitutional while a decision on the constitutionality of DAP has not yet been made. If DAP were deemed constitutional, it would provide P-Noy with unrestricted authority to redirect funds from the national budget to DAP; thus, giving him de facto dictatorial powers in the use of public funds.

What the various versions of Napolist imply is that there is an organized network of corrupt lawmakers and government officials who have been stealing the people’s money, which they were entrusted to use for the benefit of the citizenry. But what all these revelations have done was expose the shenanigans perpetrated at the highest echelon of the government. Indeed, this wholesale plunder has turned the government into a kleptocracy.

“La Cuarta Nostra”

This reminds me of the classic Godfather trilogy, which depicts how organized crime in America operates. The hierarchical structure of this criminal family — known as La Cosa Nostra (Our Cause) – was built for the purpose of generating revenue from illegal activities. The head of the organization is the capo di tutticapi (boss of all bosses) and there are the capos (bosses) that report to him. Each capo has aconsigliere (counselor) that advises the capo, and soldiers at the bottom of the hierarchy.

What is going on in the Philippines is not dissimilar to La Cosa Nostra. Let’s call this organization, La Cuarta Nostra (Our Money). Abad seems to fit the role of a capo and Alcala would be his underboss while Napoles is his consigliere. The soldiers are the senators and congressmen.

But who is the capo di tutticapi of La Cuarta Nostra that is corrupting the corrupt to plunder the country down to its core? Indeed, what could be more evil than stealing from the people? But like all things evil, this kleptocracy would, sooner or later, come to an end. The question is: When?(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)