A feared ombudsman

Finally, some glimmers of progress.

- ANA MARIE PAMINTUAN

The Independent Commission for Infrastructure has had an epiphany, announcing that ICI proceedings will be livestreamed, with occasional executive sessions.

At the Supreme Court, the original Chamber of Secrets where ICI chair Andres Reyes Jr. used to sit as associate justice, the spokesperson indicated that the SC justices are ready to release to the public their statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), subject to certain rules that the requesting party must meet.

This commitment to transparency, however, must pass the test of sincerity. If the old SC rules governing SALN access remain in place, this statement is pure BS.

The SC was the first to make it nearly impossible for the public to get hold of its members' precious SALNs. Malacañang and Congress during the Duterte administration quickly followed, backed by then ombudsman Samuel Martires.

With new Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla lifting the unconstitutional and illegal order of Martires, we're seeing a gradual return to the pre-Duterte practice of releasing SALNs.

Last Tuesday, both Senate President Tito Sotto and Speaker Faustino Dy III released their latest SALNs, declaring net worths of P188 million and P74 million, respectively.

Gosh, we even heard Andres Reyes speaking in public for the first time about the ICI probe. The extent of the corruption, as narrated by those who have faced the ICI, "makes me cry," he told senators.

Meanwhile, the Sandiganbayan, probably pricked by Remulla's lament about corruption cases being dismissed due to "inordinate delay," announced on Tuesday that the anti-graft court could finish trying flood control cases within six to eight months.