Kingfisher

Filipinos long for something beyond the scrumptious feasts laid out on the table.

This holiday season, the aroma of steaming bibingka and puto bumbong fills the air, yet even these beloved staples cannot mask the stench of a deceitful dynasty starving the nation.

Before the parols were lit, chants of protests slammed the tables of the greedy, calling out: “Ikulong lahat ng sangkot! Panagutin ang mga kurakot!”

Yet the sweet taste of victory still eludes the country. To date, only eight out of the 1,200 individuals who carved their share from the flood‑control schemes have been arrested and none of them are among the so-called ‘big fishes.’

While, 244 protesters were hauled off almost instantly for their alleged involvement in the violence that ensued—far more than the number of politicians detained for involvement in the corruption scandal.

As marches and exposés of flood‑control scandals surfaced, natural disasters struck relentlessly. Amid the chaos, Christmas hymns started fading into the distance, and the joyous season slipped further from the nation’s grasp.

For millions of Filipinos, this Christmas will be spent rebuilding roofs instead of decorating their homes, drying rice instead of roasting ham, or worse: with plates scraped bare, pockets empty, health deteriorating, and lives stitched together with the mere instinct to survive.

Other than the scraps of relief from the government, Filipinos are left again with nothing but false hope from the Philippine president, that those behind this blatant fraud will spend their Christmas in prison.

Yet Santa Claus seems unwilling to grant this wish, as President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos himself is on the naughty list—the same man accused of orchestrating a ₱100‑billion ‘bicam’ insertion into flood‑control projects.

So while Filipinos squeezed a noche buena out of a 500‑peso bill, the greedy feasted on trillions at the tables of power.

Indeed, what a merry Christmas it would be if justice were finally served in this country.

// written by Winnow

// layout by Alizza Mabulay

#InternationalAntiCorruptionDay