'We hear you'

The Palace press officer issued that statement in response to the anti-corruption rally of a religious sect held over two days (cut short from the intended three-day gathering) at the Rizal Park last week.

- DOREEN G. YU

“We hear them, we feel them and we will not disappoint them on their call for accountability and transparency. We will fulfill that,” said Presidential Communications Office chief Dave Gomez, incidentally a former colleague here at The STAR.

“We will hold to account those who stole, we will return what they stole and we will fix the system so it won't be repeated. So we heard them and we will not disappoint them,” he added.

I hear him too, and I quote his statements because I intend to hold him to his pronouncements. Three things: hold them to account, return what they stole and fix the system. Parang ang dali, kayang-kaya.

Anti-corruption cries have been ringing out all over the country for months, ever since the President opened in his July 28 SONA the can - more like barrel, actually — of worms that is the grand flood control scam. It’s been four months since then, and two-and-a-half months since he issued EO 94 that established the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to investigate flood control project scams as well as other anomalies in infrastructure projects all over the country. With a mandate as wide as that, the ICI could well be around for a long, long time.