AN independent investigative body must be created to look into alleged anomalies in flood control projects and to file appropriate cases against those who may be found to be involved.
Thus said Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Vice Chairman Senator Erwin Tulfo, as he also pointed out the possible challenge of summoning fellow legislators to the Blue Ribbon Committee hearings, whom he said could invoke “inter-parliamentary courtesy.”
“I think that that is the right thing to do—an independent group composed of the church, academe, youth representatives, retired justices and other sectors that should be part of it,” Tulfo said.
He added: “The doubts of our people will never go away if Congress and the Senate handle the investigation, since some lawmakers themselves are being linked to this anomaly.”
Without the independent investigative body, Tulfo stressed that only contractors and officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) would likely appear and be grilled during the hearings.
According to Tulfo, the independent body should determine who are involved and who should face charges of plunder, graft, bribery and other appropriate penalties, especially if the mastermind of the scheme turns out to be a legislator or a public official.
Earlier on, Tulfo had proposed real-time, independent third-party inspections of government projects, particularly suspected of being substandard and “ghost” projects, during his interpellation with Sen. Ping Lacson in a Senate session.
“I support the creation of an independent investigative body for anomalies in flood control projects because this is one way we can achieve honest-to-goodness results,” Tulfo stated.
Tulfo stressed that the findings of the Senate Blue Ribbon Investigation would serve as the basis for legislation to prevent similar scams and the theft of public funds from ever happening in the future.
“What the Senate must do is to conduct an investigation to find out why the collusion happened, how the stealing was carried out and what the government must do—especially in terms of policy—to ensure that this does not happen again,” he pointed out.
