When Congress neglects its oversight functions

T0 whom can we entrust our nation’s future if the political leaders in Congress—those in whom the people repose their trust by electing them to their exalted positions—are themselves involved in defrauding the government of billions of pesos in corruption-tainted flood control projects?

Congress’ responsibility aside from lawmaking is to perform oversight of the executive branch. Through its various committees, it is supposed to act as an architect of reform by monitoring the specific functions and performance of all agencies and departments under the executive branch, assessing their efficiency and impact on the delivery of government services, and ensuring laws are effectively implemented to enable the legislative body to formulate remedial measures when laws fail to meet their intended purpose.

It appears, however, that officials under the executive branch are required to appear before Congress only when a concerned department is subjected to investigation, as in the case of the Department of Public Works and Highways, or during the deliberation of their budget proposals.

Lawmakers are in a better position to carry out their oversight function—monitor and evaluate the implementation of government projects and institute remedial measures against fraud, graft, corruption, inefficiency, and mismanagement.

Rallies denouncing corruption in flood control projects should remind us of what one pundit said: “We stopped paying attention to what was happening around us. We started taking each other for granted, and we weren’t listening to the things that were driving people’s pain, anguish, and frustration. Our political leadership became absorbed in their own self-interest, seeing only as far as the next election.”

Antonio de Guzman,