EDITORIAL — Toothless probes

With authorities now seemingly wanting to pass the blame to the dead for their own demise, the Senate is starting an inquiry into the capsizing of a motorized boat that left 27 passengers dead in Laguna de Bay. The probe, according to senators, aims to establish accountability in the tragedy, which occurred on July 27 as Typhoon Egay was leaving the Philippine area of responsibility.

Whether the Senate probe will amount to anything is uncertain. Senators have conducted exhaustive inquiries into numerous scandals including the ones in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., the onion cartel, sugar smuggling and price manipulation, and shabu smuggling by the ton through the Bureau of Customs.

There was also the probe on the procurement of COVID supplies at the height of the pandemic by favored company Pharmally Pharmaceuticals, through the controversial Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management. The PS-DBM was also tagged in the procurement of allegedly overpriced laptops for the Department of Education. Detailed recommendations were made for formal investigations and prosecution of those deemed accountable.

Yet what came out of such probes? The previous administration helped the players in the Pharmally scandal in stonewalling, and company officials are happily enjoying their pandemic profits. In earlier administrations, Congress had also conducted several probes on jueteng operations, not only identifying the suspected gambling barons but even grilling some of them in public. What happened? Instead of going to prison, several of the jueteng lords successfully entered politics, surely using dirty money to bankroll their career change.

When wrongdoing implicates officials all the way up to Malacañang, the officials simply invoke executive privilege or draw on political alliances to shut down further efforts to unearth the truth and establish accountability.

Lawmakers have stressed that it is not their job to pursue the prosecution of persons tagged in congressional inquiries as possible criminal offenders. Even if the inquiries are supposed to be in aid of legislation, however, the results are often disappointing.

Certainly, the nation is interested in finding out if official negligence played a part in the death of 27 people in a boat ride. Establishing what happened should lead to measures that will prevent a repeat of the tragedy and save lives. Whether accountability will lead to appropriate penalties is another story. This country has a serious problem in imposing punishment for breaking rules and laws.