Iglesia wants ICI public hearing on flood control mess

MANILA, Philippines — Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo yesterday called on the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to be transparent not only with its findings, but also with the process of its investigation into the corruption in flood control projects.

“The investigation should be open and should be witnessed by the public. We believe that in order to achieve peace, we need to continuously investigate these anomalies, and these should be done with transparency and without favor,” the INC leader said.

Malacañang, for its part, reiterated the independence of the commission, noting that President Marcos does not want a cover-up.

Manalo’s strongly worded statement, read by INC spokesman Edwil Zabala on Net25, said the religious group is closely following the developments of the investigations being conducted by the Senate and the ICI on the flood control mess.

Further, they saw that the arguments and
 quarreling brought about by the revelations in the hearings and the politically-charged debates of some people caused confusion among the people.

“Like many Filipinos, we are also waiting not only on the results of the probe that should be truthful and trustworthy, but on how this will be done without doubt,” Manalo said in Filipino.

“As it should be, the persons behind the theft of hundreds of billions of pesos from public funds should be made accountable. At a time when the people are facing hardships, this is being done to exact justice and serve as a deterrent for others,” he added.

The INC noted the steps taken by the government to uncover the extent of corruption in flood control projects, such as the Senate Blue Ribbon committee investigation and the creation of the ICI.

However, Manalo said the country’s demand for accountability would not happen if the Senate would stop its investigation, as feared by some, and if there will be no transparency in the ICI’s probe.

By hiding the ICI hearings from the public’s eye, whatever its outcome might not be acceptable to the people and might add to the confusion and uncertainty.

Hands off

Amid criticisms of interference, Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said the administration would allow the ICI to perform its role.

“We will not interfere with the ICI. The ICI has independence and that is also true for the Senate,” the Palace press officer said at a press briefing yesterday.

“The President does not want a cover-up here. Whatever will be the decision of the Senate in its investigation, that is not within the scope of the (President’s authority),” she added.

Castro was asked to react to the statement of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, which called on Malacañang and the Congress to uphold the integrity of the investigations of the ICI and the Senate. According to the CBCP, any move to change Senate leadership or redirect investigations now would only heighten public suspicion of a cover-up.

The Catholic bishops also expressed strong opposition to “any attempt to preempt or derail the investigation through backroom deals, leadership takeovers or selective justice.”

At the same press briefing, Castro expressed confidence that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) would do the right thing, following reports that some retired uniformed personnel were trying to persuade soldiers to withdraw their support for Marcos.

Castro noted that the chiefs of the AFP and PNP have given assurance that security forces remain loyal to the Constitution and the chain of command.

“The people do not have anything to worry about concerning this,” the Palace press officer said.

“He (Marcos) recognizes the capabilities of the AFP and PNP and he trusts that they would do what is right,” she added.

Evidence

At the same time, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) submitted to the ICI all information on the luxury cars of contractor couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya as well as other documents relevant to their investigation into the flood control anomaly.

In a statement, BOC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno yesterday said that among the documents they turned over to the ICI were reports on enforcement actions, copies of search warrants, warrants of seizure and detention, lists of importation documents and progress reports connected to the investigations.

“The BOC fully supports the Commission’s efforts to establish the facts in all pending inquiries. This initiative reflects our continuing commitment to transparency and cooperation with oversight bodies,” Nepomuceno said.

He also directed all concerned offices within the bureau to provide full cooperation to the ICI and other investigative bodies to ensure a fair, comprehensive and evidence-based review process.

The BOC has so far forfeited 30 luxury vehicles reportedly belonging to the Discaya family.

Out of the 30 luxury cars, 13 of them would be auctioned off, from which the government expects to earn P220 million.

The 13 cars were reportedly found with sufficient grounds for seizure due to irregularities in their importation and documentation – seven were said to have no import entry and certificate of payment while six have import entry and either have no COP or a questionable one.

The BOC also said the Discaya family allegedly has unpaid duties and taxes amounting to an estimated P100 million.

As for the 17 other cars, they were found with correct payment and certification and would be released and returned to the Discaya family, but a “Deed of Undertaking” and a post-clearance audit would still be conducted.

The Discayas, as well as former Public Works secretary and now Sen. Mark Villar, appeared before the ICI yesterday.

Transition meeting

At a press briefing in San Miguel, Manila yesterday, Public Works Secretary Vivencio Dizon welcomed incoming ICI special adviser, retired PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., and thanked Baguio City Benjamin Magalong for his brief stint in the role now occupied by Azurin.

The three held a transition meeting to get Azurin up to speed on his new role.

Magalong, for his part, said there were about 25 cases to be filed before he resigned.

“There are so many... Nonetheless, I will turn over them all over to Gen. Azurin, including upcoming cases we were working on,” Magalong said.

Magalong expressed concern that some lawyers and technical people helping the ICI in conducting investigations were losing interest in assisting the commission after he had resigned.

Magalong said he will talk to these people to convince them to continue cooperating with the ICI.

The Baguio City mayor also made snide remarks against unnamed personalities: “Hopefully, they leave him (Azurin) alone to do his work. Hopefully, he is not held back… I hope they do not do to him what they did to me.”

Pressed by reporters to identify those who had held him back at the ICI, Magalong said the media should already know who had done so.

“We all know who held me back,” Magalong said, citing the critics who questioned his appointment as ICI special adviser.

Meanwhile, Magalong said there was no sinister reason for the ICI wanting to conduct the hearings behind closed doors.

“I am telling you, there is no anomaly with the close door (hearings),” he said.

“Because we’re trying to ferret out the truth, there are sensitive information coming out so that has made the ICI members decide it is better to have closed door hearings,” Magalong added.

Azurin, for his part, said that he welcomed his appointment to the ICI as it gave him the opportunity to help in going after those involved in the flood control scandal.

“First of all, I want to thank the President for the appointment. At the same time, I am thankful to Mayor Benjie for his willingness to help in the ongoing investigation,” Azurin said.

System of corruption

Although established only as a fact-finding recommendatory body, a transparency and accountability network believes the ICI is in the position to “map” the systemic and widespread corruption involving flood control projects.

“Given that the flood-control corruption scandal is both systemic in process and widespread in scope, we believe that it is imperative for the ICI to map the system in its entirety while also building fact-finding outputs that support accountability for individuals and entities involved,” the Right to Know Right Now (R2KRN) Coalition said in a statement.

“The commission should produce a clear and authoritative record of how corruption in flood control and other infrastructure projects has operated as a system,” it added.

Fervent wish

On the celebration of his 40th year as a priest, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas has a number of wishes – for the quality of life to improve, for poverty to end and that “before I die, I hope the corrupt go first.”

Villegas made the remarks during mass at the Diocesan Shrine of Saint Martha-Parish of San Roque in Pateros, where he grew up and celebrated his first mass.

Villegas did not say if it was meant as a joke, but many of those inside the church laughed at his statement.

The Pangasinan prelate clarified that he also prayed for the repentance of corrupt officials in government.

“However, I also pray that even if they die before me, I hope that before they cross over to the other side, that they would repent and reform their ways,” he said. - Alexis Romero, Janvic Mateo, Rainier Allan Ronda