There is no need for a law to institutionalize and put more teeth into the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), the super body created by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to probe the anomalous flood control projects and other public works in the past decade, a former solicitor general said.
According to Florin Hilbay, who served as the solicitor general during the administration of former President Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice (DOJ) should be at the forefront of investigating and prosecuting graft and corruption in the government.
‘Between the Office of the Ombudsman (a constitutional body with power to investigate and prosecute) and the Department of Justice (which embodies the Chief Executive’s inherent power to investigate and prosecute), the government already has the full institutional capacity and authority to go after all erring public officials, including those involved in infrastructure/flood control/ghost projects,’ he said in a Facebook post on Monday.
Hilbay’s remarks came as different groups and lawmakers reiterated their calls for Marcos to certify as urgent bills filed in both the House of Representatives and Senate that grant more powers to the existing ICI, which is limited by executive powers.
Certifying the bill as urgent allows the House and the Senate to approve a bill on second and third reading on the same day, bypassing the usual three-day waiting period.
Marcos was open to this legislation, but he had not moved to prioritize this measure. The president noted that the ICI was performing well despite its limitations.
‘The idea that the government needs to pass another law (and spend more money) to make the ICI more independent and powerful is simultaneously constitutionally ignorant and impractical,’ the former top government counsel said.
‘No institution has ever become independent simply because ‘the law’ so declared,’ he added.
Hilbay called out the ombudsman for failing to do its legal and constitutional mandate of investigating and prosecuting illegal, unjust and improper acts of public officers, including inefficiency, red tape, mismanagement, fraud and corruption.
‘Both the ombudsman and the DOJ have billions of funds to do their job, and yet we keep on hearing recommendations (from politicians) for even more funding for these offices, as if added funding could buy honesty and credibility,’ he said.
The DOJ has a P10.5 billion budget this year, and is requesting for P10.8 billion appropriations for 2026.
Meanwhile, the ombudsman is requesting P6.5 billion for next year, which is higher than its current allocation of P5.7 billion.
Hilbay also found it ironic and illogical that politicians would be belatedly pushing for another law to ensure public accountability for the crimes they themselves or their colleagues committed.
‘It is also utterly disrespectful of the outrage of the Filipino people,’ he observed.
‘In a rational world, people who fail at their jobs lose credibility and employment. It is only in government where failure is rewarded with more funding and additional powers,’ Hilbay lamented.