The House of Representatives is poised to pass on third and final reading a measure creating a permanent independent commission for investigating anomalies in flood control and other infrastructure projects.
In a statement on Tuesday, Bulacan Rep. Salvador Pleyto, Sr. said that Speaker Faustino Dy has instructed legislators to support the bill’s enactment when the session resumes on November 10.
“The Speaker wanted the House of Representatives to approve the measure on third and final reading on November 17,” Pleyto, chair of the House committee on government reorganization, stated.
The Bulacan lawmaker was referring to House Bills 4453, authored by the group of Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila De Lima, and 5699, filed by Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco—both creating “Independent Commission Against Infrastructure Corruption.”
The bills were referred to Pleyto’s committee for action.
In response to the Speaker’s directive, Pleyto said his panel will conduct the hearing on the twin measures on November 11, setting the stage for its committee-level approval.
“I don’t think congressmen will oppose this because this will be for the good of our country, so that all these corruption issues will be done away with,” he said.
Pleyto said the main objective of HB 4453 is to strengthen the current Independent Committee on Infrastructure (ICI), which was established through an executive order.
“We know for a fact that they don’t have contempt and subpoena powers. We will also give them the power to issue hold-departure orders,” Pleyto said.
“Once we’re done with this, we also want them [ICI] to have the authority to file the cases directly to the anti-graft court, Sandiganbayan,” Pleyto stressed.
After the approval of the House government reorganization committee, Pleyto said HB 4453 will be transmitted to the House appropriations committee for the funding provisions of the measure. Once approved by both committees, it will be referred to the plenary for action.
Pleyto said he will ask Dy if the latter could request Malacañang to certify the bill’s passage as “urgent.”
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated. Originally posted with the headline “House prioritizes bill creating permanent body for probing infra anomalies.”
