THE NEWLY-CREATED independent commission for infrastructure (ICI) was met with mixed feelings by cyber citizens, who voiced their hope to see big fish – and not minor characters – arrested, charged and punished for stealing public funds via kickbacks and budget insertions.
As of this writing, both chambers of Congress are conducting separate congressional “investigation in aid of legislation” into the anomalous flood control projects. However, hearing a=has only been able to drag legmen, errand boys and conduits for which the public are wondering whether or not the President really meant business when he created the so-called independent commission.
During the third senate blue ribbon committee hearing, a resource person publicly dragged congressmen into the flood control brouhaha. At the House of Representatives, two sitting senators were dragged into the scandal.
However, not one of those prominent political personalities was placed at the center stage of the congressional inquiries, and subjected to the same level of tenacity of questioning employed on contractors and “lowly” engineers from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
BUDGET INSERTIONS
For one, contractors and “lowly” engineers from the DPWH could not possibly intervene in the budget deliberation — much less budget insertions.
The job of preparing the national expenditure program (NEP) is the job of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Once done, the NEP is presented to the President before being transmitted to the Senate and the House of Representatives.
These two chambers do the deliberations where the first batch of budget insertions are infused.
Once approved, the Senate and the House of Representatives would convene as bicameral committees to reconcile differences in the approved versions. This is where bigger budget insertions take place — but not without the concurrence of the Senate President and the House Speaker.
FAST FORWARD
From a mere controversy, the irregularities in the government’s flood control program developed into a full-blown scandal, compelling the President to make an announcement if only to appease the public.
Marcos floated the idea of forming an independent commission to look into the flood control scandal. The President however took one full month before he finally issued the Executive Order 64 forming the ICI.
The President himself admitted that finding the right people to form part of the independent commission is a tall order — a chairperson and two members with “proven competence, integrity and independence to hear, investigate, receive, father and evaluate evidence, intelligence reports and information against state officials, employees and individuals tagged in anomalies, irregularities and misuse of public funds in flood control and other infrastructure projects.”
TOUGH MISSION
Interestingly, ICI, initially conceived just for the purpose of looking into the ghost flood control projects, would have to go beyond flood control mess. It would also be covering reports from the periods of former Presidents Benigno Simeon Aquino III, Rodrigo Roa Duterte and his term.
During the Aquino administration, Rogelio Singson called shots for the DPWH. Flood control projects during his time were at its peak. Ironically though, budget allocations for flood control was at its lowest — P160 billion covering six years of Aquino’s term as President.
When Duterte was elected President in 2016, he named Mark Villar as DPWH Secretary. The following year, the DPWH was given a whopping P662.69 billion allocation for infrastructure projects — but used only a third of its obligated amount, with over P73 billion worth of projects delayed or never implemented.
DPWH under Villar received bigger budgets every year with a huge chunk of its funds either flagged for ghost projects or disallowed by the Commission on Audit.
MARCHING ORDER
Under Marcos’ Executive Order 64, the independent commission on infrastructure was formed with a marching order to look into all forms of corruption under the government infrastructure program.
While the order is to spot ghost projects, substandard works, repetitive listing and budgeting for such projects that were nowhere near completion, the tougher task is to look into anomalies which took place under the previous administrations.
Reiterating his commitment to maintain honesty and integrity in public service, Marcos vowed to take decisive measures to repress and hold accountable government officials and employees.
Part of the marching order is to seize unlawfully acquired properties of public officers or employees — aside from jail time.