No need for law to strengthen ICI, ex-SolGen Hilbay says
There is no need for a law to institutionalize and put more teeth to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), the super body created by President Marcos to probe the anomalous flood control projects and other infrastructure programs in the past decade, according to a former solicitor general.
Florin Hilbay, who served as top government counsel during the administration of former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, said the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice (DOJ) should be at the forefront of investigating and prosecuting graft and corruption in the government.
“Between the Office of the Ombudsman (a constitutional body with power to investigate and prosecute) and the Department of Justice (which embodies the Chief Executive’s inherent power to investigate and prosecute), the government already has the full institutional capacity and authority to go after all erring public officials, including those involved in infrastructure/flood control/ghost projects,” he said in a Facebook post on Monday.
In September, President Marcos issued Executive Order (EO) No. 94, creating the three-member ICI, which is tasked to recommend the filing of appropriate criminal, civil, and administrative cases before the Ombudsman, DOJ, Office of the President, and the Civil Service Commission.
Hilbay’s remarks came as different sectors and lawmakers reiterated their calls for President Marcos to certify as urgent bills filed in both the House of Representatives and Senate by granting more powers to the existing ICI, which is limited by executive powers.
Certifying the bill as urgent allows the House and the Senate, respectively, to approve a bill on second and third reading on the same day, bypassing the usual three-day waiting period.
President Marcos was open to these measures, but he has not lifted a finger to prioritize these bills.
Mr. Marcos noted that the ICI was performing well despite its limitations. He also expected petitions questioning the legality of the ICI, but he maintained that EO 94 had firm legal grounds.
Hilbay said: “The idea that the government needs to pass another law (and spend more money) to make the ICI more independent and powerful is simultaneously constitutionally ignorant and impractical.”
“No institution has ever become independent simply because ‘the law’ so declared,” he added.
Hilbay also denounced politicians for belatedly pushing for another law to ensure public accountability for the crimes they themselves or their colleagues had committed, saying this “flies in the face of both logic and experience.”
