Bracing for war

Several people are singing like a canary as public anger rises over the depth of corruption in flood control projects.

Testimonies have been delivered and sworn affidavits executed, detailing various corruption schemes and naming public officials who supposedly engineered or benefited from the dirty deals.

Among those named so far in ongoing congressional investigations are senators, congressmen and officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways. The most notorious among the DPWH officials, who were identified by the top contractors named in a list released by President Marcos, have been fired or suspended.

The lawmakers implicated, however, have denied the accusations, with some preparing to file charges of perjury and other offenses against the contractors and dismissed DPWH officials.

Having been delivered in public, the testimonies cannot be junked outright. It will be up to the proper authorities to sift fact from fiction in the statements. Even if tainted, which could make them worthless in a judicial court, such testimonies can provide leads to ferret out the truth.

The testimonies give more urgency to the creation of an independent commission that must carry out the probe, which will likely implicate certain lawmakers. With some of their members implicated, both the Senate and the House of Representatives must hand over the probe to this independent body.

So far, the probes have focused mainly on a handful of the biggest contractors, on Bulacan and Pampanga and on flood control.

But the corruption schemes are believed to be much more widespread, covering many other regions and other public works projects including roads, bridges and school buildings.

Care must be taken in building cases against those responsible for what is looking like the systematic looting of public coffers. Those implicated have accumulated massive wealth and are expected to put up a spirited fight to protect their assets, their names and their way of life.

The government, which is on an anti-corruption offensive, cannot rely on hearsay and unreliable testimonies and witnesses. It must build strong cases based on solid evidence. It must be ready for war.