What some would call a restive social volcano may be close to erupting as public anger rises over the billions of pesos lost in corruption-ridden flood control and other infrastructure projects.

All told, the state has only managed to do arguably only small steps, compared to the gravity of the problem: the President going on a blitz visiting anomalous projects and inviting the public to send information, two contractors banned for life, district engineers dismissed from the service, certain individuals placed on immigration watchlists, both houses of Congress starting their investigations, and the customs bureau seizing dozens of cars owned by one contractor.

As of today, despite the immense power of the state supposedly focused on this issue, no one has been charged or brought to court.

The contractors are in a position to save themselves, but only if they volunteer to be state witnesses against other contractors but also officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways and lawmakers involved in this scandal. We hope they take this route because the hearings of either House ultimately save lawmakers and tell the public that the contractors alone did it.

The same fate could befall former and current district engineers and other DPWH officials, so they should really think hard on what they are about to say or do in the investigations.

The last time the public protested against pork barrel, millions protested in Luneta and elsewhere, leading to Supreme Court striking down the Priority Development Assistance Fund in 2013, and declaring President Benigno Aquino III’s own Disbursement Acceleration Program unconstitutional in 2014.

The country today is totally different compared to that time. We are more highly-taxed, and life is more difficult. We are more prone to floods and other effects of climate change. Foreign governments and companies have likewise since started projects that endanger the environment, including parts of mountain ranges and mountains that protect us from floods. The corrupt and their children have also become so brazen about vulgar displays of their ill-gotten wealth.

Many are beginning to see the lies and libel against the role, power and value of protest actions. It is now starting to become clear that the reason why the powerful have long demonized all sorts of protest actions was not all about peace and order. It is about the powerful and the corrupt peacefully and without resistance getting a piece of this and a piece of that, and that’s an order.

The protests have started with angry protesters banging at the gates of a contractor’s house, and throwing rotten vegetables at a DPWH office. To be honest, we need more such protests to keep the pressure on the corrupt, and on the state supposedly mandated to rein in on the corrupt. The so-called Parliament of the Streets could prove more trusted and more effective in ensuring justice and accountability, than the state and even Congress investigating themselves.

We hope cause-oriented organizations led by Bayan and Makabayan, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines led by Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, local government officials led by the likes of Mayor Vico Sotto, anti-corruption watchdogs and civil libertarians, professionals and unionized workers, the urban poor, minimum-wage earners, commuters, students and youth, farmers and indigenous peoples, conscientious public sector workers, entrepreneurs, artists, influencers, call center agents, and victims of floods, would come together, form alliances and coalitions, and call for bigger and bolder actions.

The season’s rains could be a challenge, but one contractor’s penchant for the free umbrella that comes with a Rolls Royce provides the people a new symbol of protest. Just imagine, a million people raising high their umbrellas, blanketing Rizal Park, Ayala Avenue, EDSA, Mendiola, and the urban and town centers in the rest of the country. What a sight.

Together, let’s bat for corruption-free and pro-people spending of public funds. Corruption and patronage must be ended not just in flood control and infrastructure projects, but also in health, education, transportation, housing, front-office transactions, and others. No more confidential funds. Those who committed corruption and plunder must be brought to justice and all stolen public funds should be recovered.

The hundreds of billions lost to corruption could have saved many lives from floods, sickness, disease, destitution, lack of education, lack of support. We could have built mass housing projects, municipal and city hospitals, mass transit systems, classrooms, and other infrastructure we need.

The social volcano is restive. People are watching events vigilantly, and seem ready to act. It may be only a matter of time before this Filipino fury erupts.