Incorrigible crooks

Considering the scandal that has erupted over large-scale corruption in public works projects, you have to admire the audacity of anyone who persists in pursuing the dirty kalakaran or business as usual in the scandal-plagued Department of Public Works and Highways.

Last week, three DPWH officials were suspended by Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon pending investigation for allegedly asking for commissions of up to eight percent for DPWH contracts in Pampanga’s second engineering district.

One of the officials was identified as maintenance section chief Ranilo Magtoto while the other two are construction section engineers Arnold Domingo and Jefferson Guinto.

Dizon was inspecting the Candating flood control project in Arayat, Pampanga last Friday when he announced the administrative relief of the three DPWH officials.

Several other DPWH officials, including an undersecretary and engineers, have been sacked, with some of them now being held without bail for graft-related cases. Their former chief Manuel Bonoan is expected to face criminal indictment and likely arrest. One of their undersecretaries, Maria Catalina Cabral, jumped to her death into a ravine from Kennon Road in Benguet days before Christmas 2025.

And yet if the reports that reached Dizon about the three latest DPWH officials to be purged are true, the crooks in the department are undeterred.

The reason has to be the same as the biggest factor behind the persistence of the illegal drug scourge, even after thousands have been killed by state forces: the profits from corruption are simply too enormous, making the risks worth it.

Investigations have shown how the crooks accused of pocketing billions in public funds have lived it up. And it looks like the probes are still just skimming the surface. All the big fish – whether already named in congressional probes or still waiting to be formally identified – remain free and continue to enjoy their loot.

Seeing the big fish getting away bred the impunity in corruption that President Marcos likened to a cancer that must be excised.

The suspension of the three apparently incorrigible public works officials last week illustrates the difficulty of eradicating the culture of corruption, whether in the DPWH or in other agencies of government.

It shows that until people see the certainty of punishment for those who engage in corruption, the scourge will persist, and may even become further entrenched.