An independent commission to fight corruption

BREAKTHROUGH

- ELFREN S. CRUZ

After watching the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing which convened to investigate the anomalies at the DPWH, especially the flood control projects, I have become more convinced that the investigation should be undertaken by an independent commission as recommended by President BBM.

After watching the infra-comm in the House of Representatives hearing on the same issue, I became even more convinced of the need for an independent commission.

The Senate hearing was controversial before it even began. The Blue Ribbon committee chairman Rodante Marcoleta accused Sen. Panfilo Lacson of trying to usurp his authority when Lacson made a privilege speech prior to the hearing and made a series of exposés which obviously was meant intentionally or unintentionally to overshadow the Blue Ribbon hearings. Marcoleta also publicly criticized Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, who proposed that an independent commission investigate the DPWH corruption, rather than the Blue Ribbon committee.

Perhaps the most glaring negative perception of the hearing was that two senators who were committee members were part of the group of senators whom the Comelec, according to Comelec Chairman George Garcia, were being investigated for receiving campaign donations from contractors. Section 95 of the Omnibus Election Code bans contractors and subcontractors who provide goods or services to the government from donating to the election campaigns of the candidates.