Rep. Danilo Domingo, a representative of Bulacan’s 1st District, on Wednesday sought a closed-door meeting before the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) because he believes a public proceeding can cause ‘undue pressure and influence’ in the ongoing investigation.
Domingo was named by Brice Hernandez, former Department of Public Works and Highways 1st District Engineering Office’s assistant district engineer, as one of politicians who allegedly got a cut from the projects in the province’s first district engineering office.
The lawmaker has since denied Hernandez’s allegation.
During the hearing, Domingo appeared to have misspoken when he initially told the ICI that he would leave it to them if it wanted to livestream the hearing.
His lawyer Alex Lopez interjected, saying: ‘We would just like to put it on record that we filed a request for an executive session.’
Domingo’s camp has previously submitted the letter requesting for an executive session.
ICI chairperson Andres Reyes Jr. approved the executive session after Lopez explained the grounds behind this plea.
‘As we all know, Bulacan is the epicenter of this flood control controversy. In this regard, Congressman Domingo has already been maligned and received significant backlash despite the fact that there was no credible or any categorical allegation made against him,’ Lopez said.
‘Likewise, as we understand it, anything that the good congressman will say in these proceedings can and could be used against him,’ the counsel noted.
‘Unfortunately, we cannot control how the public could misconstrue or misinterpret any of the information that would be elicited during this hearing,’ he added.
‘Hence, the good congressman could be unduly prejudiced by livestreaming this proceedings. Further, the hearings today, if live-streamed, could cause undue pressure and influence on the pending investigations in the pending cases involving the first district of Bulacan,’ Lopez continued.
Hernandez, who made the allegation against Domingo before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, also revealed during the same hearing that all infrastructure projects in Bulacan’s first district have been substandard since 2019.
According to Hernandez, this is because they were bound to give ‘obligations’ or kickbacks to the proponents of the projects in the provincial district.