Every time I read about the many unresolved scandals and charges of corruption leveled against this greedy administration and its minions, I cannot help but just sigh and hope that one day, karma, hell, eternal damnation, or whatever it is higher beings do to bad people will catch up with these filthy crooks and give them the punishment they rightly deserve.

I feel this way because I see no reason to believe the government's spin masters that all this hanky panky, plundering, and looting of the nation's treasury is not true simply because it cannot be proven. After all, in all these investigations in aid of legislation, everything has been hearsay, rumor, and denials so far because the supposedly righteous and credible witnesses we have depended on to spill the beans look like they have been cowed into submission, resulting in them clamming up and invoking the cloak of invincibility called EO 464 when being questioned under oath about the sinister activities of their superiors.

The problem with unresolved scandals (no, canceling an anomalous contract does not resolve the issues of bribery and corruption if nobody has been charged and prosecuted), like the NBN-ZTE scandal, is that the lack of closure means they can be reopened anytime something new comes up. This is what happened with the surfacing of the newest, supposedly credible witness, Rodolfo Lozada, Jr., a consultant of the cowed Romy Neri who was allegedly privy to all the juicy details of this era's most famous attempt to screw the Filipino people.

Lozada was supposed to testify at the Senate inquiry of the NBN scandal, but the element of surprised was stripped when his name was leaked by no less than the chairman of the blue ribbon committee, giving the people who would be implicated by his testimony enough time to convince him not to testify. As a result, the surprise witness is now out of the country, “on government business”, which in this case is a loose translation of “coerced into protecting the interests of certain people who are in absolute power”.

It's frustrating, but you can't blame the guy. When the Gestapo is let loose on you and your family, you comply with the wishes of the hand that holds the leash. It happened to Romulo Neri, it is happening to Rodolfo Lozada, Jr., and it will happen to anybody else who does not toe the line and keep the secrets of the state, even if these secrets do not have anything to do with the protection or benefit of the country.

All we can really pin the blame on is on Malacañang, because it was obvious from the start, that while the people who sit in power spew forth rhetoric about transparency and good governance, they are not interested in the truth. Because if they were, they would have taken the lead in going after the people accused of corruption and assure witnesses of protection and make them available to investigating bodies.

Like most Filipinos, I am sick and tired of the political nature of these investigations in aid of reelection. But what makes me even sicker is the way the executive branch of government is blatantly coddling and therefore encouraging the wholesale plunder of our nation's coffers. Administrations genuinely concerned with fighting corruption may bristle at the thought of the legislative branch interfering with their affairs, but they will not hesitate at launching their own impartial investigations and prosecute the perpetrators. This president is doing nothing except labeling these investigations as politically motivated while turning a blind eye to the barefaced self-enrichment activities of her cronies. As long as she does nothing to stop this scourge, these senate investigations, as revolting they may be, may be the only effective deterrent against state sponsored corruption.