peaking of foolishness, this one is of Napoles proportions.

Of course, we are referring to the monstrosity of the foolishness pulled off by Janet Lim-Napoles whose name is now synonymous to anything fraudulent involving the hated pork barrel. Last time we heard, the high flying fugitive surrendered to no less than President P-noy. Considering the magnitude of her criminal offense, it was the height of intestinal fortitude for Napoles to choose P-noy as the go-to guy to handle her monumental terms of surrender. To our mind, the surrender is Napoles’ first act of redemption. Haven’t you notice that two of P-noy’s powerful factotums—DILG Secretary Mar Roxas and Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, were quoted as saying that Napoles may turn state witness? If so, then, the brains of the so-called P10B pork barrel scam will after all be off the hook because she will be considered the least guilty of all the principal players of this monumental robbery of the people’s money.

Redemption? Knowing the extent of her caper, at least she redeemed herself by yielding to the highest official of the land because in the subsequent turn of events, the next frightening reality is the possibility of Napoles “singing like a canary”. We cannot read the mind of the President given Napoles’ surrender but who can stop tongues from wagging if no quid pro quo was not arrived at as part of the terms of surrender. We should remember that the Napoles scandal is fast becoming a political football resulting in an administration vs opposition match up. Another sidebar of the financial mess is the question who are his cohorts in the criminal enterprise. For sure, it is one sword hanging over the heads of lawmakers who partook in the pork barrel loot which Napoles and company pocketed.

Do you think the likes of Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla, among others, whose pork barrel were stashed to fill up the pockets of Napoles are comfortable now that the high profile fugitive is now in the hands of the authorities? One thing sure, Napoles is not that naïve not to bring down her confederates in the scam. Those who benefited from her racket, will equally be brought down to the gates of hell because under the conspiracy principle, an act of one, is an act of all. And the conspiracy is not limited to senators only. Scores of congressmen are also in the take and the moment Napoles will start naming names, it will surely bring the Lower House down. With all these political personalities tainted with the racket perpetrated by Napoles, what is there to expect is all hell breaking loose because two institutions are dragged to the gutter. With the Lower and Upper Houses under siege, is there hope for these institutions to rise up from ignominy? It’s too early to tell. Even the abolition of the pork barrel system is no guarantee that the two Houses will be cleared of wrongdoing. If reports are true that what is happening now as a result of the Napoles foolishness is only a tip of the iceberg, then be prepared if the mass of the iceberg is exposed to the full sunlight of scrutiny.