The Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) wants the Senate to continue its investigation of flood control project anomalies and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to publicize its hearings.
‘As is appropriate, the root cause of the theft of hundreds of billions of pesos from the public treasury must be held accountable even during times of hardship for the people. This is to ensure justice and hopefully prevent others from following suit. This, however, cannot be attained if the Senate investigation is stopped like what we’ve been hearing due to unclear reasons,’ INC Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo said in a letter in Filipino and read on Net25’s Sa Ganang Mamamayan on Tuesday.
‘Likewise, the ICI investigation won’t be of help if it is done in secret. Whatever the outcome, it is likely to be unacceptable to the people and will only add to the ongoing chaos and uncertainty,’ Manalo added.
‘The hearings of the ongoing investigation must be open and the public must witness them,’ he emphasized.
‘We believe that for there to be peace, there must be a continuous investigation into this widespread corruption and it must be conducted with transparency and without bias or cover-ups. This is a manifestation of the sincerity of those concerned,’ Manalo said.
‘Peacefully observing’
According to Manalo, the INC is ‘peacefully observing’ what is currently happening in the country, saying that they are praying that ‘peace and justice will prevail.’
‘Like many Filipinos, we are also waiting not only for the outcome, which must be genuine and credible, but also for how it can be implemented without any doubt,’ said Manalo.
Earlier, Senator Panfilo Lacson announced that the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on alleged flood control anomalies set for Wednesday is postponed ‘until further notice’ due to the unavailability of documents needed within a week.
‘To maximize the discussions, I checked with the DOJ if the supposed ‘tell-all’ affidavit/s of the Discayas were already available. Corollary to that, I also checked with the office of the executive judge of Manila RTC if they have concluded the investigation on the possible violations of the notarized document involving TSgt Guteza and Atty Espera,’ Lacson recently said.
‘Having been informed that both would not be ready within one week, not to mention that the BRC hearing will conflict with the budget and CA hearings, I informed SP Sotto of the cancellation until further notice,’ he added.
Meanwhile, ICI executive director Brian Keith Hosaka recently said that hearings of the commission are not being live streamed to avoid ‘trial by publicity.’
The ICI is avoiding trial by publicity, and will not allow it to be used for any political leverage or agenda by any individual or group,’ Hosaka explained.