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MANILA, Philippines — The ombudsman is ready to take on the task that the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) has started, should the latter cease operations following the successive resignations of two of its commissioners, assistant ombudsman Mico Clavano said yesterday.
He downplayed the resignations as nothing unusual.
“The Office of the Ombudsman sees this as the natural flow of things. The ICI was established during the transition from one ombudsman to another to ensure quick and reliable fact-finding and investigation,” Clavano said in a statement, when sought for comment on the resignation of ICI commissioner Rossana Fajardo effective Dec. 31.
Fajardo’s resignation came weeks after the resignation of former public works chief Rogelio Singson as commissioner and incumbent Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong as adviser.
Clavano pointed out that the ICI was created for immediate investigation of the flood control scam as the Office of the Ombudsman was in transition phase in October due to change in leadership from Samuel Martires to incumbent Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla.
“Now, with a new ombudsman ready to take on the task, the ICI was quick to relay their referrals for further fact-finding and/or preliminary investigation,” Clavano said.
He also commended the members of the ICI for rising to the challenge of investigating a massive government corruption scandal despite not having any immunity from suit.
“Though it has always been a concern for the ICI that they do not have immunity from suit – unlike the ombudsman who is an impeachable officer. Thus, the exposure is high, especially for those who head the commission,” Clavano said.
“In that context, it was quite noble for private individuals to even take on such a daunting task so significant in our country’s history,” he added.
Fajardo’s resignation has left the ICI with just three officials: chairman Andres Reyes Jr., special adviser Rodolfo Azurin Jr. and executive director Brian Keith Hosaka.
In a television interview last Dec. 5, Remulla said the ICI may wind up its operations in a month or two and turn over the investigation on the flood control scam entirely to the Office of the Ombudsman.
“That’s the direction it is going. ICI is not intended to be forever. We have the law that created the Office of the Ombudsman. And we are now very active. In the coming year, we will be hiring young lawyers to carry on the job,” Remulla said.
In a press statement issued following Fajardo’s resignation, Reyes said the ICI is now in the process of completing its “final recommendations” for submission to the ombudsman.
Clavano said the ombudsman values the work of the ICI and “put plenty of weight on their recommendations.”
“Whether this signals the end or a transition phase of the ICI, the Office of the Ombudsman will remain steady in its pursuit of credible and hard evidence, quality cases and real accountability,” Clavano said.
“It is only a matter of time before we see more cases filed in court – many upon the recommendation of the ICI,” he added.
‘Waste of time’
Analysts lament that the ICI has effectively become a “waste” of government resources.
After Fajardo announced her decision on Friday to relinquish her post, Reyes came up with a statement hinting that the three-month-old fact-finding body is in the process of wrapping up its work.
“It was a waste of time and public funds,” Michael Henry Yusingco, a senior research fellow at the Ateneo Policy Center, told The STAR.
“The ICI is irrelevant as far as the anti-corruption effort is concerned; it is merely a fact-finding, recommendatory body. The most relevant institution in fighting corruption is the ombudsman,” he added.
Yusingco said Marcos should have pressured all officials and employees in the executive branch to cooperate with the ombudsman and preserve all documents related to the investigation on anomalous infrastructure projects.
“Optics-wise, this move would have been more impactful, and it would have compelled the ombudsman to act with more urgency,” the analyst said.
Domingo Cayosa, former president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, had long called the ICI a “redundancy” and an “added layer of bureaucracy,” saying in a radio interview that the ombudsman is already equipped with the necessary powers to pursue those responsible for the flood control mess.
Lawmakers like Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima are now wondering how the ICI will function with its chairman virtually alone in the fact-finding body.
“He may be the chairperson, but it’s supposed to be a three-member commission,” De Lima told One News’ “The Big Story” on Friday night.
“It cannot just be a one-member commission. How can he perform and how can he fulfill the mandate of the ICI alone? You know, the lack of quorum and all that,” De Lima, a former justice secretary, stressed.
Reporters are now asking the ICI whether the sunset clause of Executive Order 94, which formed the commission, has already been invoked, given that Reyes mentioned in his statement that the fact-finding body is now “finalizing the remaining items that will be submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman.”
Reyes earlier declared the body is “good for two years,” but made a hint that he and its members were prepared to see its lifespan shortened, with its work swallowed up either by the ombudsman or a permanent independent commission.
If the ICI finally gets the axe, it would end sharing the fate of the last ad-hoc commission established, the Philippine Truth Commission, which former president Benigno Aquino III created in July 2010 via Executive Order 1 to probe Arroyo-era graft and corruption activities, only to be struck down by the Supreme Court five months later.
And the ICI’s demise puts Marcos in a “catch-22 situation,” as political strategist Malou Tiquia puts it.
“For a very important job to fight corruption, it was the flag of this administration to show seriousness in accountability. It wasn’t organized well,” Tiquia told One News’s “The Big Story” Friday night.
Yusingco said the recent developments at the ICI may have political backlash for the President, whose trust ratings have declined in the most recent Social Weather Stations poll.
“Marcos promoted the ICI as if it were important, when it was really not,” Yusingco said. “You can’t blame people if they use the ICI’s failure to attack him.” — EJ Macababbad
