Numbers CAN lie—I think they just did (Part 1 of 2)

I don’t know why everyone is so quick to rally behind the supposed truth of “numbers.” Where is the part where you start questioning why all the politicians are focusing too much on a single person? Where is the consciousness to look to look at the discrepancies? Why are we so quick to take the word of heretofore, unknown whistleblowers (WHO WERE PART OF THE ENTIRE DEAL TO BEGIN WITH!!??!!) over the word of public servants?

I’m not saying the accused are completely absolved of blame—I’m just saying, there might be more to the numbers than meets the eye—or what’s being presented to our eyes, at least.

Case in point:

When the PDAF scandal first broke, we were all presented with a number—a massive, impressive one too:

10,000,000,000 (that’s 10 billion pesos) pocketed by politicians.

Too big for the public to ignore.

It’s been 3 months since this figure was announced. And to this day—

·      I don’t know how this number was reached—did they really retrace all the missing funds and unfinished project from every politician and it added up to a cool, even 10 billion?

·      If we are to look at the COA (Commission on Audit) Special Audit Report on the PDAF, the investigation reports of the Ombudsman FIO (Field Investigation Office) and the affidavits of self-styled whistleblowers, the number 10 billion is nowhere to be found. 

·      I should also point out that the aggregate amount in the charges that were filed by the Ombudsman with the Sandiganbayan, 10 billion is not even in the ballpark because the total amount does not even reach 1 billion pesos.

I would assume that this figure was used to capture the attention of Filipinos and then use it to incite public anger. A move that defines bias and subjectivity among masses.

And then there’s the case of Senator Bong Revilla, Jr.—a public servant accused of pocketing 1.2 billion pesos.

Again, too big for the public to ignore.

But through the course of his trial, here are the inconsistencies I’ve noticed:

·      The 1.2 billion was reduced to a third during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearings—to 400 million—a whole new number.

·      When it was the Ombudsman’s turn to file a case against Revilla with the Sandiganbayan, this number was again reduced by half. We’re now at 224 million.

·      When trial begin for his bail petition, it was again reduced to just 80 million.

Now, here’s my beef with the media—

Whey weren’t these figures published? Explained? For whatever reason this was left out in the reporting, it speaks so much about journalistic integrity in my country. After all, missing billions as opposed to a paltry few million, especially when this was for a former actor/producer who probably could earn as much through movies and endorsements, would sell a lot more papers and ratings.

But wait...there's more. Watch out for my next post about the discrepancies in numbers in one of the country's most contentious corruption scandals--all the inconsistencies, what the media left out and what the public should know. 

READ MY PART 2 HERE: CLICK ME