The Independent Bloc in the House of Representatives on Wednesday pushed for a congressional probe of major cases of possible corruption under the present administration which President Aquino did not mention in his State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.
The Bloc’s Leader, Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez also lamented the fact that the President has forgotten the SAF 44 who died in the Jan. 25 Mamasapano incident.
“On top of our list is the continued failure of the Justice department and the Office of the Ombudsman to file court cases against Aquino Administration allies who had been linked to the ‘pork barrel’ scam by the alleged mastermind Janet Lim Napoles. It’s been more than a year since allies of the Administration were linked along with members of the opposition.
“Charges have been filed against the suspected opposition members. At least three of them, all senators, have been jailed. But when it comes to the suspects who are known allies or supporters of the President, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has never run out of alibis for not filing a case yet against anyone. If this is not selective justice, we are very interested to hear how will the justice secretary describe and defend this,” Romualdez told reporters at a news conference.
Romualdez said his group would also want to exercise its oversight function in looking into the reported rampant smuggling in the country and the government’s resolve to the problem.
“Not even Customs officials can deny that smuggling goes on unabated. But the people have yet to hear of how widespread it really is and how much is the government actually losing in duties and other revenues. Interceptions and seizures of smuggled items are reported in media but these come far in between. There are consistent reports of supposed reforms but Customs collections always fall short of their target,” Romualdez said.
He said “charges have supposedly been filed against smugglers but we hardly learn of any conviction.”
“And if you will note, almost all of supposed smuggling activities reported in media are only in Manila. Practically nothing is heard from other ports and airports in the rest of the country,” the House opposition leader said.
Romualdez said his group would also want to look into the decrepit condition of the mass transit system.
“The MRT and its continued deterioration alongside the highly questionable actions related to its operations [is reflection of how the Aquino government has been so competent in dealing with the proble],” Romualdez said.
“Among others, we want to thoroughly clarify from the Office of the Ombudsman why was Department of Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya excluded from criminal charges over the anomalous maintenance contract when he was the one who signed it, including its renewal.
“We also want to know why no legal action was initiated earlier by DOTC and MRT officials against the maintenance contractor and where exactly did the approximately P50 million monthly maintenance fee go to?” Romualdez asked.
The issue on rice sufficiency was the most pressing issue that the President failed to mention in his SONA.
“Department of Agriculture officials had claimed in earlier media reports that the rice inventory is sufficient and we have just had one of the most productive years in history. But still, the government plans to import 1.2 million metric tons of rice. For what? Why should we still spend hundreds of millions or billions in taxpayers’ money if we have enough of what we need? What’s the basis and whose brainchild is this importation?” Romualdez asked.
Most of all, Romualdez said the Aquino government had refused to mention about government’s inability to deliver for the Yolanda victims.
“It’s high time for the people to know the whole truth behind the snail-paced rehabilitation efforts for victims of super typhoon ‘Yolanda’,” Romualdez said.
Romualdez pointed out that more than P170 billion had been set aside for the victims but almost two years after the tragedy, only P47 billion has been released and utilized.
“We emphasize without any breakdown on where the money was spent. We will find out what monumental obstacles are keeping the government from releasing and utilizing the funds that almost two years is not enough for them to solve or overcome these,” Romualdez said.
“We also want details and physical proof that the rest of the rehabilitation funds are still there and have not been stolen or diverted. Except for the victims themselves, the public is in the dark on what really is going on with rehabilitation efforts for ‘Yolanda’ survivors. Considering the dismal results so far, this should not go on forever,” Romualdez said.
