Wanted: ICI public hearing

The flood control plunder sprung from secrecy – the lack of transparency in the budget process, the concealment of institutional thievery, and the inability of the public to scrutinize the asset statements of top officials, thanks to a sorry excuse for an ombudsman.

So the last thing the Independent Commission for Infrastructure needs is to be seen as another extension of this culture of secrecy. ICI chair Andres Reyes, a retired Supreme Court justice, should not want to be seen as a member of the brotherhood of omerta. He should disabuse his mind of the notion that the ICI is like the SC, where most proceedings are closed to the media.

There’s legal merit in Reyes’ argument that the innocent must be protected in the ICI’s fact-finding effort. But considering the current combustible environment and the bombshells dropped at the congressional hearings, he’s looking protective of the VIPs who are already convicted in the court of public opinion.

Over the weekend, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said “almost all” senators inserted a total of P100 billion in pet projects for funding under the national budget for this year. So there you go, you nasties behind that meme about the “Men of Steal” – it looks like there’s more where those three usual suspects came from.

The ICI cannot be seen as complicit in a cover-up of the uber rich and powerful. Instead of the fact-finding providing a vent for public fury, the ICI’s secrecy is stoking the rage.

ICI proceedings must be opened to the public. Those implicated who claim to be innocent (there are denials all around) can publicly refute the accusations outright, sue witnesses for perjury, and hit back at their detractors verbally and legally.

Certain aspects of the ICI’s fact-finding can be done in private, such as the authentication of documents, the gathering of material evidence, and vetting of witnesses if only to ensure that they don’t fake the notarization of their statements.

But other parts of the proceedings must be open to the public. The Agrava Fact-Finding Board on the assassination of Ninoy Aquino and Rolando Galman conducted public hearings. So did the incident investigation and review committee that was formed to probe the 2010 hostage crisis in Rizal Park.

Why should the ICI probe be conducted behind closed doors? Because senators and congressmen are involved? The higher the position in government, the higher the bar should be for transparency.

If the ICI insists on secrecy in its probe, President Marcos should consider finding a new chair for it, preferably someone not from the Supreme Court, which was the first government body that blocked public access to its members’ statements of assets, liabilities and net worth.

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Concerns have intensified about a whitewash or, worse, a cover-up, especially as the accusations creep closer to Malacañang.

Also, considering the testimonies in Congress and the reactions of those implicated, there are valid fears that only the low and mid-level players in this flood control scandal will face punishment.

Those enormous piles of cash were delivered – according to witnesses themselves – to the known addresses of senators and congressmen who have been named as the intended recipients, but only through their aides.

This lack of a digital money trail drives the preference for cash transactions in dirty deals. VIP recipients obviously will not show their faces in the handover of dirty money. Apart from avoiding facial recognition devices, suitcases containing millions in cash must be too heavy.

These VIPs have gofers to get them drinking water; why should they themselves lug around multiple suitcases even if each contains P48 million in cash?

Incidentally, perhaps Bangko Sentral officials can enlighten us: can P48 million (probably in P1,000 bills) be crammed into the largest model in German luxe luggage brand RIMOWA’s line? That’s the Original Trunk XL – 31.5 inches in height, 17.2 inches wide and 17 inches in depth.

Ex-Marine Orly Guteza, who seems to have hopped from one VIP bodyguard duty to another over the years, mentioned RIMOWA as the brand of the suitcases packed with hundreds of millions in cash that he claims he delivered to the homes of lawmakers, complete with street name, house and condo unit numbers.

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Even without any lawmaker signing for receipt of the deliveries or being recorded on CCTV, lawyers say accused VIPs can still be pinned down through unusual spikes in their assets, through their bank deposits (bank secrecy is lifted in a corruption probe) or even based on circumstantial evidence. Endorsements of projects for funding in the national budget can be linked to alleged bribes.

Considering the impunity by which wealthy and influential defendants bend the law in our country, however, the outrage generated by the sight of those mountains of cash meant for bribes could end up like the post-EDSA outrage over the shoes of Imelda Marcos.

So don’t fret, nepo babies. Take a break from flaunting your jets, Lamborghinis and Hermes-everything. Give your faces and bodies a break from plastic surgery enhancements. When this storm blows over, you might yet become senators, and why not, even president of our looted republic.

As for the gofers, remember the sad fate of Richard Cambe, Bong Revilla’s Senate aide. Cambe died in prison over the pork barrel scam; Revilla went back to the Senate.

There must be a special place in hell for the contractors, public works officials and the Men of Steal in Congress – but only for the aides who handle the luggage packed with stolen cash.

Heck, even the ICI seems to be protecting the VIPs.