Whether you tuned in to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing or the House infrastructure inquiry on anomalous flood control projects, you’ve probably heard resource persons drop strange words that didn’t quite mean what they seemed.

Then there's Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, who first came up with his so-called “CORRUPTIONary” — a tongue-in-cheek glossary of jargon used to mask kickbacks in government projects. These terms, dressed up as ordinary bureaucratic lingo, have taken on darker meanings in the flood of testimonies that have surfaced.

From "SOP" to "obligasyon", you've probably come across the language used by the resource persons, and while this is not the first time you've encountered these words, this will help you understand them better since their usage gave them a whole different meaning.

"SOP" - stands for standard operating procedure, a euphemism for commissions or kickbacks first coined by former DPWH Bulacan assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez. He first used the term during the House infra comm hearing where he first revealed Senator Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva's alleged involvement in the kickback scheme.

He said that the "SOP" or the standard kickback or commission for the "proponent" was 30 percent.

"Proponent" - several resource persons used the word "proponent" in both hearings in the Senate and the House. This word usually refers to the politician who requested the insertion of a particular project in a particular district or province. In the hearings, both Hernandez and his boss, sacked DPWH Bulacan First District Engineering Office Head Henry Alcantara, said that they gave the "SOP" to former DPWH Usec. Roberto Bernardo, who will hand them to the proponents.

"In-house" - this term is often used to describe DPWH's projects. Senator Erwin Tulfo claimed that contractors’ licenses are often rented out or controlled by “dummy” companies and even DPWH officials themselves. In this case, Tulfo said that they do not construct—they only have their licenses rented out. The DPWH borrows or even buys the license of a contractor, then proceeds with the project. In some cases, they do not build at all. This happened with construction companies Wawao and SYMS.

"Obligasyon" - much like SOP, this is a euphemism for commissions or kickbacks. Alcantara used this in his signed affidavit, stating that for every project that Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co was able to insert, he gave him an "obligation" from the funds based on their agreement. His obligation depended on how the project was inserted.

"Tulong" - another euphemism for commissions that Alcantara used. He used this term since the allocation was used to fund former Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr.'s election bid this year. Bernardo allegedly told Alcantara to increase the proponent's share, his "tulong" for Revilla, who was gunning for reelection.

At the end of the day, these jargons—SOP, obligasyon, tulong, proponent, in-house—may sound harmless or even mundane, but they reveal how corruption has developed its own language to normalize what is essentially theft from the public. 

Behind every “SOP,” “tulong,” or “obligasyon” is money stolen from the people—no matter the label, they all mean the same thing: kickbacks, bribes, and plunder.