Are They Heroes?

This local broadhseet’s editors and assistant editors recently chose the PDAF whistleblowers as their paper’s Hero of the Year for 2013, through a votation just amongst themselves. Out of 59 votes, the whistleblowers got 32.

Well, congratulations.

Grateful to them

I am not surprised anymore why Benhur Luy and company made it to the paper’s shortlist of candidates. After all, they have risked life and limb in coming out in the open to reveal the nitty-gritty details about how some legislators funneled their pork barrel funds to their own pockets through Napoles-owned NGOs.

I salute their bravery, most especially that of Luy who was the first to “blow the whistle”, for dropping code names of those political giants allegedly involved in the scam, without batting an eyelash – and with a smile.

If not for their headline-grabbing revelations, then we would not have any knowledge whatsoever about such grand illegal activity allegedly perpetrated by Napoles and her legislator friends involving millions and millions of pesos.

Thus, we are grateful to them.

  

The lesser evils

But what I am appalled at is the idea that they got majority of the votes.

Becoming a whistleblower does not necessarily make one a hero. Luy and company were actually part of the scam if I may reiterate - as if we don’t know yet. Napoles’ operations would not have materialized and prospered if not for their willingness to take part in their boss’ illegal activities. So they are, as I have said, part of the grand thievery. The only difference is that they only played bit roles.

Okay, so it’s time for some veneration of the lesser evils.

Just in the nick of time

Benhur Luy was the first to come out, due to his dismay and alarm of being illegally detained by the Napoleses for quite some time. I surmise that his acts of disclosure were his way of getting back at his captors, triggered perhaps by the fear that he might soon vanish into thin air because he knew too much.

Now the rest did the same thing, for the same fear I guess.

But on top of it all, maybe this bunch of Napoles’ cohorts does not want to be implicated nor to be charged in court, hence their decision to divulge everything that they know in order to save themselves – before everything else is too late.

Just in the nick of time.

Heroes in their own right

Allow me to retract an earlier statement, by saying that they can be considered as heroes in their own right. They could have chosen to just keep all that they know to themselves, in order to have a peaceful and normal life.

But they chose to make acts of revelations, which opened up a can of worms one after the other. Aside from the PDAF, all other types of funds are now being scrutinized. Such eye-openers have been keeping our government officials on their toes since citizens are turning a watchful eye on them.

We may not know what the real intentions of the whistleblowers are. But one thing is of certainty: we would not have discovered a new and different kind of corruption and a new breed of corrupt officials if not for them.

This is in turn has taught us to become vigilant about how the government spends the taxes deducted regularly from our salaries.

Sige na nga.