Lawmakers on Saturday pressed the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to open its investigation into the flood control controversy to public scrutiny, saying transparency is key to earning public trust.
House Deputy Minority Leader and Muntinlupa City Rep. Leila de Lima, along with Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, called on the ICI to make its hearings public, noting that its secrecy contradicts the Marcos administration’s promise of transparency.
“This is not what we expected from the Independent Commission for Infrastructure. When you say independent commission, it doesn’t mean you will keep things secret and act alone,” De Lima said in a statement to the Manila Standard. “Is the ICI’s refusal also what the President wants?”
De Lima said that if President Marcos truly supports transparency, he should direct the ICI which was created under his Executive Order No. 94 to make its hearings public. “People need to know what’s happening to allay fears and dispel any suspicion of a cover-up or whitewash,” she added.
With the House infrastructure committee’s joint inquiry suspended and no Senate Blue Ribbon hearing scheduled, De Lima said Filipinos are eager for updates on the probe’s progress.
She also renewed her call for the passage of House Bill 4453, which seeks to institutionalize and strengthen the ICI. “We are wondering what’s taking the House leadership so long to act on it—and why the President hasn’t certified it as urgent,” she said.
Ridon, co-chair of the House infrastructure committee, echoed De Lima’s call, urging the ICI to open at least some portions of its proceedings to the public.
“For example, the reading of affidavits—these are public documents anyway, already vetted by lawyers and the ICI. I think the reading of these affidavits and the questioning by commission members should be allowed under open public proceedings,” Ridon said at a news forum in Quezon City.
He noted that while the ICI currently informs the public through press statements, the hearings themselves remain closed. The commission, he said, could still hold executive sessions for sensitive matters, such as identifying major personalities involved in the controversy.
“What we are suggesting is for the ICI to decide which parts of their hearings should be public, and which should be in executive session,” he said, adding that he would consult his House co-chairs to formally urge the commission to make that determination.
