Ang bilis naman.
Parang hindi pa tapos ang kasalukuyang termino, pero ramdam mo na — 2028 mode na ang lahat. The Marcoses are consolidating. The Dutertes are recalibrating. The Pinks, mostly Akbayan and the Liberal Party, are repositioning.
Parang rehearsal na ulit ng next national showdown.
And the ordinary Filipino is left asking a very simple question: anyare na sa corruption issues?
Because let’s be honest. The scandals did not disappear. The allegations did not evaporate. The questions were never fully answered. But somehow, the national conversation has shifted. From accountability to alliances. From investigations to electoral arithmetic.
Under the Marcos administration, serious concerns were raised — from budget insertions to spending priorities to governance transparency. There were impeachment complaints filed. There were calls for deeper scrutiny. Yet politically, the momentum stalled. The message now feels less like “let’s resolve this” and more like “let’s move forward.”
Forward to what? 2028.
On the Duterte side, the strategy is just as obvious. Positioning has begun. Messaging is being refined. Support is being mobilized. Yet the controversies that hounded the camp — including questions around confidential funds and public spending — remain politically unresolved. Instead of clear, sustained transparency, the public gets counter-accusations and political framing. Accountability becomes just another talking point in a power struggle.
And then we arrive at the most ironic development of all.
The Pinks — particularly Akbayan and segments of the Liberal Party — built their post-2022 identity around reform, institutional integrity, and resistance to Marcos-era politics. They stood on memory. They stood on principle. They stood on the promise that politics could be different.
Now we hear openness to collaboration. Strategic cooperation. Possible alignment.
Political pragmatism, some would say. But for supporters who invested emotionally and ideologically in reform politics, it feels like whiplash. If you defined yourself as the alternative to dynasty politics and entrenched power, how do you explain sitting at the same table when 2028 math requires it?
Reform cannot be seasonal.
There is also the recent public defense of the administration from figures like Kiko Aquino Dee, who argued for nuance and cautioned against blanket condemnation. While he is known more for historical advocacy than partisan politics, the effect of such statements in this climate matters. When even reform-aligned voices begin sounding conciliatory, critics interpret it as softening the line at a moment when scrutiny is needed most.
Maybe it is an attempt at balanced discourse. Maybe it is fatigue from endless polarization. But in a country where accountability has a short attention span, tone matters.
And then there is Makabayan.
Agree with them or not, they remain among the few consistently foregrounding corruption issues even when it is politically inconvenient. They continue to push for investigations. They continue to raise uncomfortable questions. They are not adjusting their messaging to fit coalition possibilities. They are not recalibrating based on electoral viability.
In a political environment where the biggest blocs are recalculating for 2028, Makabayan appears less concerned with alliances and more concerned with institutional accountability. That makes them easy to marginalize — and easy to attack — but it also makes them one of the few voices refusing to move on prematurely.
So what really happened to corruption issues?
They were not resolved. They were deprioritized.
When all major camps begin thinking about the next election before finishing the business of the current term, governance becomes secondary. Investigations lose urgency. Public outrage cools. Political memory shortens.
Marcos consolidates. Duterte prepares. The Pinks negotiate relevance. Everyone counts numbers.
But who is counting unresolved questions?
If 2028 is already the obsession, then we have to ask ourselves: are we electing leaders to govern, or are we perpetually preparing them for the next campaign?
Because when corruption becomes negotiable, when principles become strategic, and when accountability is postponed in the name of coalition-building, the problem is no longer just one family or one party.
It becomes systemic.
And unless voters refuse to let corruption be sidelined for political convenience, 2028 will not be a new chapter.
It will just be the same cycle with new slogans