Accountability Must Be Greater for Those Who Steal From the Nation
*Dr. Rodolfo John Ortiz Teope, PhD, EdD, DM
Mabigat ang ginawa ni MMDA General Manager Nicolas Torre III. His privately owned SUV was reportedly used along the EDSA Busway while carrying MMDA markings, unauthorized emergency accessories and a replicated government plate assigned to another agency vehicle. Bilang isa sa pinakamataas na opisyal ng ahensyang nagpapatupad ng disiplina sa ating mga lansangan, hindi niya maaaring obligahin ang ordinaryong motorista na sumunod sa batas habang siya mismo ay lumilihis dito.
An urgent inspection cannot automatically justify the use of government markings, blinkers, sirens or a license plate belonging to another vehicle. Public authority cannot be improvised according to personal convenience.
Kapag ikaw ang nagpapatupad ng batas, hindi sapat na mabuti ang iyong layunin. Your methods must also be lawful, proper and transparent. Kaya nararapat lamang na managot si General Torre. The penalty must be fair, proportionate and consistent with what would be imposed upon an ordinary motorist who committed the same violations.
The investigation must also determine who ordered, authorized or knowingly allowed the modifications and the use of the replicated plate. Hindi dapat matapos ang usapin sa pagpaparusa lamang sa drayber kung may ibang taong nagdesisyon, nagpahintulot o nakinabang sa paggamit ng sasakyan. Accountability must follow responsibility—not merely the person holding the steering wheel.
Yet one important fact should not be ignored: Torre admitted his mistake. He apologized publicly, paid the corresponding fines and accepted responsibility for what happened. Siya ay nag-leave at nabalitang pinag-iisipan na rin ang pagreretiro sa public service.
Hindi nito binubura ang kanyang paglabag. It does not automatically erase his accountability. But an admission of wrongdoing still matters in a political culture where many officials continue to deny everything—even when documents, witnesses and evidence are already staring them in the face.
We can punish the violation without destroying the entire person.
General Torre is certainly not Jesus of Nazareth. Hindi siya inosenteng taong pinaparusahan para sa kasalanan ng iba. He is a public official who committed a serious and embarrassing mistake. But if society is determined to metaphorically crucify him, then we must ask an uncomfortable question: Why are we so eager to condemn General Torre while the many Barabbases of corruption continue to walk freely through the corridors of power?
The biblical metaphor is not meant to declare Torre innocent. It is meant to question the judgment of the crowd. Paulit-ulit nating pinipili ang madaling kondenahin habang nakalalaya sa ating galit ang mas mapanganib at mas mapaminsalang mga tao. Madaling sigawan ang opisyal na nakitang dumaan sa EDSA Busway. Mas mahirap banggain ang mga makapangyarihang maaaring sangkot sa paglustay ng milyon o bilyong pisong pag-aari ng taumbayan.
Let us make the distinction clear. The controversy surrounding General Torre does not allege that he pocketed public money or plundered government funds. Walang alegasyon sa partikular na insidenteng ito na ninakaw niya ang pondong nakalaan sana para sa pagkain, gamot, paaralan, imprastraktura o kabuhayan ng mga Pilipino.
He committed serious traffic and administrative violations, and he must answer for them. Pero hindi ito kapantay ng pagnanakaw sa bayan.
Compare this with corruption involving projects intended to protect lives and communities. Kapag ang pondong inilaan para sa flood-control projects ay ibinulsa, nilustay o ginamit sa substandard at ghost projects, hindi lamang traffic rules ang nalalabag. Families can lose their homes. Workers can lose their income. Businesses can be destroyed. Entire communities can be submerged, and human lives can be placed in danger.
Sa ganitong uri ng korapsyon, hindi lamang pera ang nawawala. Nawawala ang tahanan, trabaho, kabuhayan, kaligtasan at kung minsan, maging ang buhay ng tao. The damage is not momentary. It can burden families and communities for many years.
Behind corruption are not only the people who directly receive or pocket the money. Nariyan din ang mga enablers—the officials who approve questionable transactions, the contractors who knowingly deliver defective projects, the employees who manufacture documents, the auditors who deliberately look away, the political protectors who obstruct investigations and the people who remain silent in exchange for security, influence or personal benefit.
These are among the Barabbases we set free every day.
We free them whenever we choose to condemn a noisy personality for a visible violation while ignoring the quiet operators behind grave abuses of power. Pinalalaya natin sila kapag halos lahat ng ating galit ay ibinubuhos sa isang traffic offender, samantalang ang mga taong responsable sa pagkawala ng public funds, kabuhayan at buhay ay unti-unting nawawala sa pambansang usapan.
Consider the renewed effort to postpone the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections. Ang sinasabi ng ilan ay makatitipid daw ang pamahalaan kapag ipinagpaliban ang halalan. But that justification exposes a painful and insulting contradiction: may pera para sa korapsyon, pero walang pera para sa demokrasya.
The Barangay and SK elections are currently scheduled for November 2026, but proposals have again been introduced to move them to a later date and extend the terms of incumbent officials. Election watchdogs have warned that repeated postponements weaken democratic accountability. The financial argument is also questionable because COMELEC has cautioned that postponement could waste billions already spent on preparations, while even a one-year delay could require substantial additional funding.
An election is not merely an expense appearing in the national budget. It is the mechanism through which people can retain, replace or reject their leaders. Ang balota ang pinakamapayapa at pinakamalinaw na paraan upang papanagutin ng mamamayan ang mga namumuno sa kanilang barangay.
There are honest, hardworking and dedicated Barangay and SK officials who deserve recognition. But we must also admit that corruption, favoritism, political patronage, questionable procurement, ghost beneficiaries and misuse of public assistance can exist even at the grassroots level.
Kapag paulit-ulit na ipinagpapaliban ang halalan, hindi lamang mabubuting opisyal ang nananatili sa puwesto. Pati ang mga opisyal na dapat nang suriin, palitan o papanagutin ay nabibigyan ng karagdagang panahon sa kapangyarihan nang walang panibagong mandato mula sa mamamayan.
Why should General Torre’s traffic violation receive louder national condemnation than the alleged misuse of public funds happening in various levels of government? Bakit halos hindi tayo makahinga sa galit dahil sa kanyang sasakyan, ngunit tila mabilis tayong manahimik kapag ang pinag-uusapan ay pondong nawawala sa mga barangay, lungsod, lalawigan, national agencies at malalaking government projects?
This is how greater issues are erased by a sordid fiasco.
A dramatic controversy becomes the center of public outrage. Sumasabog ang social media. Commentators compete to issue the harshest condemnation. Politicians suddenly rediscover the language of accountability. Meanwhile, deeper scandals quietly retreat from the headlines. The people are entertained by the spectacle of one man’s fall while the machinery of corruption continues operating away from the cameras.
There have long been criticisms of Torre’s public style. Masyado raw siyang maingay sa social media. Para raw niyang ibinebenta ang kanyang sarili, itinataas ang kanyang pangalan at ginagawang bahagi ng kanyang leadership style ang palagiang pagpapakita sa publiko.
Perhaps Torre has his reasons for that approach. In this age of digital governance, directly communicating with the public is not inherently wrong. But excessive visibility carries a dangerous price. Kapag palagi mong inilalagay ang iyong sarili sa spotlight, ang spotlight ding iyon ang magpapalaki sa bawat pagkakamali mo. The public that applauds your dramatic actions today can become the same crowd demanding your destruction tomorrow.
That may have been one of General Torre’s greatest strategic blunders. He created a highly visible public personality, and when he committed a visible violation, the public reaction became equally loud, relentless and personal.
But social-media noise must never become the measurement of justice. Ang hustisya ay dapat nakabatay sa ebidensiya, batas at bigat ng pinsalang ginawa—hindi sa dami ng shares, reactions, comments o views.
This is where our national sense of proportion becomes deeply troubling. A visible official involved in a traffic controversy can be humiliated, pressured to resign and treated as though his entire career should be erased. Samantala, may mga taong nahaharap sa mas mabibigat na alegasyon na nananatili sa kapangyarihan, nakabubuo muli ng political machinery at kung minsan ay naibabalik pa sa puwesto sa pamamagitan ng eleksiyon.
Ang iba ay tahimik na gumagawa ng kalokohan. They do not announce every action on social media. They quietly negotiate questionable contracts, influence the release of government funds and protect one another behind closed doors. Dahil hindi sila kasing-ingay o kasing-visible ni Torre, hindi rin ganoon kalakas ang galit na ibinabato sa kanila.
This is not a defense of General Torre. Accountability is not persecution, and requiring him to answer for his actions is not an injustice. Ngunit nagiging baluktot ang accountability kapag mabagsik itong ipinapataw sa mga visible at madaling gawing target, samantalang ang makapangyarihang lumalabag ay hinaharap ng katahimikan, pagpapaliban at selective blindness.
If we demand accountability for an unauthorized plate and an illegal passage through the EDSA Busway, then our demand for accountability against plunderers, corrupt officials and their enablers must be immeasurably louder. Kung hindi, nagiging selective outrage ang ating galit—mabangis laban sa madaling batikusin ngunit mahina sa harap ng makapangyarihang mandarambong.
General Torre’s experience should become a permanent lesson—not only for him but for every public servant. Government plates, official markings, sirens, blinkers and restricted lanes are not decorations of power. They are instruments of the state governed by law. Kapag ginamit ang mga ito nang walang wastong pahintulot, nasisira hindi lamang ang pangalan ng opisyal kundi pati ang tiwala ng mamamayan sa institusyong kanyang kinakatawan.
Let General Torre face the proper legal and administrative consequences. Hayaan siyang magmuni-muni tungkol sa kanyang pagkakamali, leadership style at paggamit ng social media. Let this painful experience remind him and every other official that public service does not provide shortcuts around the law.
But let us not crucify General Torre while quietly releasing the Barabbases of corruption.
If no one is above the law, then neither are plunderers, corrupt politicians, dishonest contractors, political protectors, government enablers, senators, congressmen, Cabinet officials, agency heads or barangay officials. Hindi maaaring ipatupad ang prinsipyong ito laban lamang sa taong ang pagkakamali ay nakunan ng video. It must apply with even greater force to those who steal public money, abuse public authority, weaken democratic accountability and endanger Filipino lives and livelihoods.
Punish the traffic violation. Correct the abuse of privilege. Demand responsibility from General Torre. But do not allow this sordid fiasco to erase the greater issues confronting the nation.
May pera para sa korapsyon, pero sinasabing walang pera para sa demokrasya. May lakas tayong kondenahin ang maingay na lumabag, ngunit tila nawawalan tayo ng tinig sa harap ng tahimik at sistematikong pagnanakaw.
Nawawalan ng moral na kabuluhan ang hustisya kapag nakabibingi ang sigaw nito laban sa isang lumabag sa batas-trapiko, ngunit halos walang tinig sa harap ng mga nagnanakaw sa buhay, kabuhayan, demokrasya at kinabukasan ng buong bansa.
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