MIA, Awol, CBL, POI, HDO, FFJ, EJK, Pogo, WPP, PDL

The year 2026, I think, will be a year of surprises, a denouement of sorts in our neck of the woods, even while we search for some bright spots in a darkening global horizon. And so, we look back and forward.

Remember how, during the three-year COVID-19 pandemic, we had a daily diet of abbreviations invented by health authorities that got many of us more perplexed than we should have been—ECQ, MECQ, GCQ, to name a few—as well as PPE, LSI, etc. I published a book about those dreadful lockdown, quarantine years. While again perusing the pages, I found the half-forgotten alphabet soup and had a good laugh.

Some periods in history give rise to new acronyms and vocabulary. During the dark martial law years, there were the dreaded ASSO, PCO, and PDA (I got away from one!), while the resistance movement came up with its own to portray the climate of fear during those times—PDO, UG, salvage, “hamletting,” internally displaced persons, etc.

Fast forward to recently, with super typhoons battering our archipelago, and, thanks to frequent weather updates on mainstream and social media, Filipinos now have at the tips of their tongues ITCZ (intertropical convergence zone, PAR (Philippine area of responsibility), and other weather jargon. Climate change, environmental destruction, and widespread flooding had us segueing into the whys of all the unprecedented watery disasters. Namely, high crimes and corruption in government infrastructure projects, especially flood control projects, that are either substandard or nowhere to be found. Where did the money go?

These past few months, we have been at the ringside of investigations involving the Department of Public Works and Highways (say DPWH without batting an eyelash) officials in cahoots with contractors. Senate blue ribbon committee hearings uncovered the matrix of corruption and stashes of cash in the billions, cozily sitting in condominium units, not to mention fleets of luxury cars, each one costing millions of dollars. We now know what wealth porn looks like.

We now have an alphabet soup for the crimes unfolding before our eyes: MIA (missing in action), Awol (absent without official leave), CBL (cannot be located), POI (person of interest), HDO (hold departure order), FFJ (fugitive from justice), EJK (extrajudicial killings), Pogo (Philippine offshore gaming operations), and PDL (persons deprived of liberty, a euphemism for detainees or prisoners serving time). No way can the very guilty be in the WPP (Witness Protection Program) or be a state witness.

MIA and Awol are part of official military parlance, but now we use them loosely to refer to someone who does a disappearing act to evade sanctions or escape responsibility. For example, MIA for a wayward husband or the recent case of a bride-to-be who vanished shortly before her wedding. CBLs are tax evaders hounded by tax collectors. CBL applies to FFJs as well. POI could be someone suspected of knowing or being party to a crime and of having HDOs hanging over their heads. Some have slipped out in the dead of night.

Several prominent FFJs are being hunted now. Resigned Ako Bicol party list Rep. and billionaire Zaldy Co has been a no-show at Senate hearings after strong evidence showed him to be allegedly part of massive corruption in infrastructure projects. He is said to be in Portugal. Sen. Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa could be all of the above as he faces charges of being involved in thousands of EJKs when he was Philippine National Police chief during the Duterte presidency. He has not taken leave from his legislative duties. Lawyer and former Duterte spokesman Harry Roque is in Europe, commiserating with Duterte, who is in the Scheveningen prison of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and is being tried for crimes against humanity. Roque has been trying to apply for political asylum. He recently moved to Austria. On Facebook, he continues to challenge his pursuers while evading arrest for his alleged involvement in Pogo operations that included human trafficking and other crimes. He could be within arm’s reach of Interpol.

Now, DSLs are the likes of convicted former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, who turned out to be a Chinese national, and several others for their criminal Pogo operations. Some accused are still FFJs. The Senate investigations revealed a crime network never seen before, showing how foreign elements had sneaked in and ran criminal syndicates in Philippine territory. New DSLs (just two days ago) are former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla and several others for their alleged involvement in an anomalous multimillion-peso Bulacan infrastructure project. He is among the first to occupy the new jail in Payatas, Quezon City. With him are six others. Revilla had faced plunder charges in the past, had been acquitted, but is being required to turn over to the government P124.5 million in civil liability.