*Dr. Rodolfo John Ortiz Teope, PhD, EdD
Three leaders, three days, three falls—Japan’s Ishiba, France’s Bayrou, and Nepal’s Oli. In seventy-two hours, political power collapsed across three nations. Different contexts, but the same truth: once people withdraw their trust, no government survives.
Here in the Philippines, we are dangerously close to that breaking point. The flood control scandal is not just another corruption story—it is betrayal. Funds meant to build dikes and protect communities from deadly floods were siphoned away. While Filipinos wade through chest-deep waters, lose homes and livelihoods, and bury loved ones, the money that could have saved them has fattened pockets. Nature’s floods are merciless, but the floodwaters of corruption are worse, because they are deliberate.
And this comes after a string of other wounds that remain unresolved. The mystery of the missing sabungeros. The impeachment case of Vice President Sara Duterte. Allegations about the President’s cocaine use. POGO-linked crimes. Reports of Chinese espionage. The insurgency that bleeds the countryside. Budget insertions that reek of plunder. Each of these scandals is heavy enough on its own. Together, they crush a people already drowning.
How much more can Filipinos take? Our history shows the pattern. In 1986, Marcos fell in four days. In 2001, Estrada was gone in hours. Both ignored the people’s cry. Both believed power was permanent. Both were swept aside by a roar they could no longer silence.
The same danger looms now. The Senate hearings have turned into political theater. Accusations fly, names are dragged, reputations destroyed, yet accountability stops at the powerless. The people are not fooled. They know this scandal is systematic, that both contractors and politicians are complicit, and that justice always seems to stop where power begins.
Violence must be avoided at all costs. But violence is not prevented by denial or suppression—it is prevented by listening. The roar of the people is not rebellion. It is a plea. A warning. A demand to be heard. If leaders continue to mock, ignore, or dismiss it, then they should not be surprised when the roar becomes a storm.
And when that storm comes, we may wake up not only to new leadership, but to leadership we never expected. The next leader could emerge through constitutional succession—someone already in the line of authority, thrust into power by the collapse of trust at the top. But just as dangerously, the next leader could also come from outside the constitutional framework, sponsored by powerful players—political dynasties, oligarchs, foreign interests, or factions who see in crisis an opportunity to seize control. That is the peril of broken institutions: when the people are desperate for change, they can be made to accept even those whose motives are not pure, so long as they promise order amid chaos.
This is why action is needed now. The government must cleanse itself with sincerity, not empty speeches. It must pursue accountability all the way to the top, not just scapegoat the small players. It must replace arrogance with humility, self-preservation with genuine service. Otherwise, tomorrow—or the day after—we may wake up to new leadership. And if that happens, it may not be the leadership we chose in peace, but one imposed upon us by collapse and manipulation.
The lesson from Japan, France, and Nepal is clear. The lesson from our own history is even clearer. When leaders fail to act, the people will. And when institutions fail, power does not disappear—it is simply seized by those bold enough, or ruthless enough, to take it.
As a Filipino, I do not pray for collapse. I pray for
renewal. But renewal requires courage—courage to face the truth, courage to
admit failures, courage to choose country over ambition. If our leaders cannot
find that courage, then history will once again write its verdict, swift and
merciless. And when it does, we may find ourselves waking up to a new
leader—perhaps one within constitutional succession, or worse, one outside it,
backed by power players who see our nation’s suffering as their chance to rise.
