BAYAN TO ICI: LIVESTREAM IS GOOD, BUT WE NEED BIG FISH, NOT SMALL FRY
The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) today welcomed the livestreaming of the ICI hearings but stressed that livestreaming alone is meaningless if the investigation spares the powerful and focuses only on low-level operators.
The group expressed grave apprehension over recent statements made by ICI Executive Director Brian Hoska and Special Adviser Rodolfo Azurin that no high officials have been identified yet in the ongoing probe into massive anomalies in flood control projects.
In a press conference last week, Hoska and Azurin said the ICI will recommend the filing of 15 cases only against contractors and district engineers of the DPWH.
“This is deeply alarming and raises serious questions about where the ICI investigation is headed. Several whistleblowers have already testified in both the Senate and Congress, naming senators and congressmen as recipients of kickbacks from anomalous flood control projects. For the ICI to say no big names have been identified is either a sign of deliberate cover-up or an unacceptable failure to pursue the trail where it clearly leads,” BAYAN said.
To dispel such doubts, the ICI should upload videos of its previous hearings where legislators, DPWH officials and contractors like the Discaya couple testified, BAYAN said.
BAYAN added that while transparency is welcome and long overdue in such high-stakes probes, it would be meaningless if top officials would be spared.
“The people want accountability from the top. The real masterminds are not the ground-level fixers or contractors, but the legislators and executive officials up to Malacañang who made these scams possible in the first place,” the group said
BAYAN also warned that public trust in the ICI is fast eroding should it become another venue for whitewashing the crimes of the powerful. “The testimonies have been compelling. The paper trail is available unless already disposed of by the culprits. Billions of pesos in taxpayers’ money have clearly been stolen. The question is whether the ICI has been designed to provide minor fall guys rather than go after the big fish. ,” BAYAN added.
The group vowed to continue mobilizing the public to demand full accountability and justice. “If the ICI refuses to hold senators, congressmen, and top officials accountable, then the people will hold them accountable in the streets,” BAYAN declared.
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