ICI: Justice not enough; restitution necessary

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- BY JOSEPH PEDRAJAS, CZARINA NICOLE ONG-KI, HANNAH TORREGOZA, and JEFFREY DAMICOG

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Retired Supreme Court associate justice Andres Reyes Jr., chairman of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), on Thursday, Oct. 16, emphasized the need to recover the assets of those involved in the anomalous flood control projects as serving them justice is not enough.

"All those persons responsible for this may be prosecuted and jailed, but to completely heal our nation, justice is not enough. We need restitution," Reyes said as he met with heads and representatives of at least 17 government agencies for a meeting on how to recover these assets.

Restitution, according to Reyes, is defined as the act of making good or giving equivalent for any loss, damage or injury, and indemnification.

Gov't out to recover tainted assets "We, the different agencies of the government, are all here today to band together and pool our resources to go after and recover the assets of these criminals. That is our goal," Reyes said. "These assets were purchased using public funds. They belong to the Filipino people. Money that could have been spent on building schools, hospitals and road projects was instead burned wantonly on useless luxuries and vices." Representatives from a total of 17 government agencies gathered at the headquarters of ICI, which hosted a closed-door meeting for the purpose of "going after and recovering the assets of these criminals" since "these assets were purchased using public funds," Reyes said.

In his opening remarks, Reyes stressed the need for joint efforts among various government agencies since the people are "all enraged, hurt and betrayed by what was done to deliberately manipulate" the nation's money.