KUALA LUMPUR: There is no need to include members of the political opposition in the fact-finding body created by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to investigate corruption in government infrastructure, according to Malacañang.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said the three members of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) handpicked by the President himself were already nonpartisan to ensure checks and balances.
“The President chose the people that he believes to be independent from anyone, including the executive,” Bersamin told reporters on Saturday (Oct 25) after Marcos departed for Kuala Lumpur to attend the 47th Asean Summit.
“That independence is the number one criterion for appointment to that body,” he added.
The ICI is headed by former Supreme Court Justice Andres Reyes, who was appointed to the high court by former President Rodrigo Duterte. Its other members are Rogelio “Babes” Singson, a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary during the term of former President Benigno Aquino III; and Rossana Fajardo, country managing partner of SGV & Co. auditing and consulting firm.
'We want fairness'
Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano earlier called for the ICI to add people coming from the political opposition and religious leaders to be part of the super body.
“We are not asking for a Cabinet post. What we are demanding is for the government to be fair,” he had said.
While Bersamin called the proposal of Cayetano “laudable,” he said it would be an “We cannot put on there [on the executive order that created the ICI] that its members should be from the opposition,” he said. “Does that mean that if the members are not part of the opposition, they are no longer objective? That’s not right.”
Already ideal
For ICI executive director Brian Hosaka, the current composition of the ICI was already ideal.
“If you look at the current composition of the ICI, no politician is a member. This is ideal since the ICI will be shielded from any political agenda or motive,” he said.
Hosaka added that maintaining this non-political structure is necessary for the commission to effectively fulfill its mandate.
Malacañang would also not compel the ICI to expedite the crafting of its rules to livestream its hearings.
“It’s up to them. We are not influencing them at all in this matter. They should adopt the rules when they will livestream,” Bersamin said.
While the ICI already agreed to livestream its hearings, Reyes said it would take some time for the commission to study and draft the rules of procedure and parameters before it goes on livestreaming its hearings.
Reyes cited the meagre number of its lawyers — currently only 13, of whom eight were borrowed from the also undermanned Public Attorney’s Office — for the slow pace of the rules crafting.
In his personal opinion, Bersamin said livestreaming the hearings of the ICI “does not work very well in favor of its objective.”
“There are many things that are revealed there that may not be true, that may not be verifiable,” he explained.
“When you livestream, you hear so many things that may not even be considered evidence. And yet, viewers might be given false expectations or false hopes that someone actually did those things. That’s not acceptable — and it wouldn’t be fair,” he added. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
