Sotto seeks urgent passage of Independent People’s Commission bill

Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said on Sunday, 14 September, that he will formally request President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to prioritize as urgent the passage of Senate Bill 1215 or the Independent People’s Commission (IPC).

Sotto explained that the bill will make sure Marcos’ Executive Order creating the IPC on flood control projects will continue and become a permanent law.

“While the President’s Executive Order is immediate, my bill ensures permanence. The IPC will not just be a stop-gap measure, it will institutionalize oversight and prevent instances like this from happening again in the future,” Sotto said.

He added that the IPC will not only look into projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways, but also other agencies with infrastructure programs, such as the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, Department of Education, and many more.

“Corruption in projects does not only happen in roads and bridges. It also affects farm-to-market roads, hospitals, and schools. That’s why this bill is important because it protects taxpayers’ money and makes sure projects truly serve the people,” Sotto added.

Sotto stressed that the IPC is important because it will help bring back people’s trust, protect public funds, and make sure government projects are done properly and for the benefit of Filipinos.

On 11 September, Marcos announced the establishment of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) as a fact-finding body mandated to investigate alleged corruption, irregularities, and misuse of funds in government flood control and related projects within the last 10 years.

Expand ‘Sumbong sa Pangulo’

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said, like the plans to expand IPC, he also hopes the scope of the sumbongsapangulo.poh website will likewise be expanded by not limiting its coverage to flood control projects only.

Lacson said the website can be made more valuable to taxpayers by including data on funding for all infrastructure projects of all agencies, from the National Expenditure Program to the General Appropriations Act, as well as the identities of the proponents of congressional amendments or insertions, and all the way to the project implementation and completion.

“And yes, complete with geotagging, please. This will maximize transparency every step of the way, not to mention public participation in monitoring where and how our taxes are being spent,” he added.

In August, Marcos launched the “Sumbong sa Pangulo” website to encourage citizens to fulfill their civic duty by reporting any non-operational or questionable flood control projects in their areas to him.

The website was created in response to the chief executive’s order during his fourth State of the Nation Address, which aimed to investigate irregularities in flood control projects following repeated widespread flooding during the typhoon season.