The Cavite Mafia inside the DOTC and the Balai mafia at DILG

While our eyes are transfixed on tele showing people sharing their interesting anecdotes on how they managed to scheme our monies worth billions, here comes President Aquino's henchmen making commitments left and right, and entering into onerous deals which are disadvantageous to the government.

One of these deals, the LRT-MRT common ticketing system, is really stinking. That train deal, that reclamation project, and several others have been tainted with charges of graft and corruption. What is most glaring in the awarding of these projects is the obvious lack of sophistication. Bid rules are being changed at the last minute to favor the ones close to the Powers-that-be. Government and utilities are being carved into fiefdoms for private companies to toy with and eventually pass higher rates and fares to the hapless Pinoy consumer and commuter.

Talks are rife about the existence of the Cavite mafia inside the DOTC, an obvious reference to Secretary Emilio Abaya and his closeness with several other Cavite politicians like former Cavite governor Ayong Maliksi and their main bet for the presidency, former Senator Ping Lacson.

Many people believe that this so called group is reportedly already planning for another shot at the presidency come 2016. Ping Lacson is being positioned as a potential presidential bet. No harm in hoping or prospecting. Ping is a good man. As early as 2009, when I was still a journalist, I always knew that Ping is special. There is a glow in him that only presidents have.

No harm in saving funds for the 2016 elections, but just don't get it from public funds.

Likewise, just don't get it from private firms which bid for government projects. The one reason why problems continue to fester is the fact that bidders are being forced to accede to demands from government officials and thereupon, being pressured to sacrifice the quality of the work because, obviously, the money they intend to spend to make it like it is , is diverted just to satisfy the whims and demands of officials linked with the bidding.

These people now in government must think of their future. Their future rests on the way people think about what they did while in service.

They must think that they will only be in service for a time. They will eventually revert into ordinary citizens.

Would they like people to sneer at them while they are shopping at a grocery, just because people think they were instrumental in robbing people of their monies?

Would they like their kids be victims of bullying by their classmates because their names were involved in anomalous deals? Obviously not.

So, be honest while in government service. Imprisonment is just one form of punishment. The worst form is social ostracize-ment.