ICI to livestream hearings

Over a month after its creation, the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) will finally start livestreaming its flood control probe hearings next week.

- MARC JAYSON CAYABYAB

ICI chairman and former Supreme Court justice Andres Reyes Jr. told this to the Senate justice committee yesterday, which tackled Senate President Vicente Sotto III’s proposed bill creating the Independent People’s Commission (IPC).

“We will now go on livestream next week, once we have the technical capability,” Reyes told the senators, who lauded the move as a step toward transparency.

Reyes welcomed the passage of a bill that would refine the ICI’s powers, such as allowing it to conduct motu proprio investigation on anomalous infrastructure and to issue subpoenas to compel witness attendance as well as have full and unrestricted access to all government records such as contracts, bidding documents and audit reports.

The creation of an IPC will result in the abolition of the ICI but will retain the latter’s fact-finding mandate to recommend charges before the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Reyes broke his silence about the ICI’s investigations and expressed shock at the extent of corruption in public works, marked by a kickback scheme among contractors, district engineers and politicians.

"This thing is outrageous and makes me cry. How can these people get away with P500 billion?" Reyes said.

The proposed bill would not only upgrade the powers of the ICI, but would also allow the commission to seek assistance from any government department, bureau or office, such as the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police, to secure the investigation and protect witnesses.