Senator pushes ‘empowered’ panel by December
Amid calls for those involved in the anomalous flood control projects to be held accountable, Sen. Francis Pangilinan on Sunday said he is hoping the bill seeking to create the Independent People’s Commission (IPC) would be approved before Christmas.
“I hope that the bill would be approved and the IPC would be established before Christmas, because we need to expedite our investigation,” Pangilinan said in an interview with radio dzBB on Sunday.
He said he feels sad about the public’s observation that nobody was being held accountable or imprisoned.
“They were saying that there are just hearings, while the big personalities are exempted from criminal liability or end up being acquitted,” he added.
Pangilinan said once Senate Bill No. 1215, or the Independent People’s Commission, is approved, it can absorb the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), which was created to investigate the alleged anomalous infrastructure projects and ensure accountability in the use of public funds.
He said the proposed IPC aims to strengthen the ICI’s powers in investigating the anomalous flood control projects.
Needed soon
During the Senate panel on justice and human rights’ hearing on infrastructure anomalies last week, former Chief Justice Reynato Puno said that the ICI does not wield enough powers to address the largest corruption scandal in the country’s history.
Puno supported the establishment of IPC, which would investigate all forms of anomalies in the government.
He said the measure seeking the establishment of IPC is a necessary legislation that the country needs to pass “without unnecessary delay” in view of the crisis of corruption threatening Philippine harmony.
