ANAK KA NG SCAM

 

Have you noticed that every time there’s a massive mess in our country, some words are invented or even their meaning is absolutely ruined for the sake of irony or sarcasm? This practice has a legitimate name: antiphrasis. It’s wild and intriguing how our language keeps score of our national traumas, and Pinoys are experts at it. Antiphrasis is defined as “a figure of speech or a rhetorical device where a word or phrase is used in a sense directly opposite to its literal or usual meaning, often for humorous or ironic effect.”

Perhaps no word embodies the chilling inversion of meaning more profoundly than "Salvage." Originally, to "salvage" meant to save something from ruin, to recover, or to rescue. A noble act, indeed. But in the Philippines, especially during the Martial Law years and the height of the anti-insurgency campaigns, "salvage" took on a horrifying new definition: to extrajudicially kill, often by state agents, with the body then dumped to conceal the crime.

What about the biggest words in political cheating? "Hello Garci"—a cheerful greeting that became the ultimate shorthand for massive, wiretapped electoral fraud when a former President was allegedly caught on tape talking to an election official about protecting a lead in the 2004 polls.

Some words, decent in their original meanings, were transported to an unusual intensity of usage because of what they signified: Graft Money. The "Fertilizer Fund" scandal became infamous for the alleged diversion of funds meant for poor farmers to a presidential campaign. Take "PDAF" (Priority Development Assistance Fund). The acronym itself is now a dirty word, forever linked to the betrayal of public trust, and has become synonymous with the "Pork Barrel Scam.” “Jueteng,” the favorite gambling pastime of Pinoys, stood for the payoffs and protection money given by gambling syndicates. The word became notorious during the impeachment trial of a former president, where his alleged receipt of jueteng money was a central charge.

Then came COVID, and with it, the procurement panic. One tiny company, "Pharmally,” suddenly gets billions in government contracts for overpriced and questionable protective gear. Now, Pharmally is just a shortcut for massive, profiteering, and cronyism. During the Duterte era, we got "Tokhang," the seemingly innocent word that became a severe alternative word for drug-related killings.

This leads us to the most politically volatile budget term: "Insertion." Senators and congressmen are allergic to this word. It is now synonymous with a legislator secretly adding a project to the national budget. Sen. Ping wants to resign his Blue Ribbon Chairmanship because it caused internal friction. The word is “toxic” to senators. A possible coup in Senate leadership?

Equally notorious are the new slang terms “Parking” and “Sagasa.” These are related to insertions in the budget by the crooks in Congress into the congressional district of another legislator, with or without their knowledge and consent.

The ultimate Filipino reaction ties it all together: "Mahiya naman kayo!" It sums up the public's frustration and moral outrage when faced with shameless acts of greed.