Institutionalizing the fact-finding body probing the flood control anomalies is being considered to prevent an interruption of the proceedings due to court suits.

It would mean the creation of another ad hoc body to take the place of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), which is considered totally useless.

Senate Bill 1215 seeks the creation of an Independent People’s Commission (IPC) to be vested with broad powers beyond the limited ICI mandate.

Former Senator Franklin Drilon considers the proposal necessary while broader steps are taken to strengthen the justice system.

While the ICI has precedents, the current commission may face legal challenges.

The most famous ad hoc body was the Agrava Commission that looked into the assassination of former senator Ninoy Aquino.

Other bodies were the Davide Commission created in 1990 by President Corazon C. Aquino to investigate the coup attempts against her, and the Feliciano Commission created by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2003 following the Oakwood mutiny led by junior officers of the Magdalo group of anarchist Antonio Trillanes IV.

All these probe commissions were challenged in court but were sustained as constitutional.

There was an exception — the Truth Commission under President Noynoy Aquino — which was struck down as unconstitutional due to the equal protection clause in the Constitution.

This portion of the Constitution provides that all persons shall be treated alike under the law, meaning the government must not discriminate or grant special privileges to any individual or group without a valid and reasonable basis.

The EO creating the Truth Commission stated that it shall cover only investigations of anomalies of the “past” administration, which was that of Macapagal-Arroyo.

According to Drilon, the commitment against corruption must be genuine since “it cannot be denied that our people today are angry.”

“I was in the Senate for 24 years and in the executive branch for nine years. I have never seen a corruption of this magnitude during the 34 years that I was in public service,” he said.

A manifestation of the outrage may be seen in public gatherings such as UAAP basketball games, where the pep squads of opposing teams chant anti-corruption cheers in unison.

“I was at the La Salle-UP game. For the first time, I saw the two cheer squads chanting together, “Ang mga kurakot, ikulong na yan (the corrupt, jail them),” Drilon said.

Drilon attempted to fathom the unprecedented depths of corruption, blaming the culture of impunity that government officials have adopted.

“This is impunity to me is because of the failure to observe the rule of law. They have disregarded the rule of law because they feel that they can get away with wrongdoing. They feel that they can commit crimes without fear of being punished,” Drilon pointed out.

The crux is the failure of the justice system. “And I was part of that once, a secretary of justice for four years. Indeed, I must admit that I may have failed to do what was needed in order to improve at least the perception of our people of our justice system,” Drilon conceded.

The daisy chain of failures stems from the investigation, prosecution, adjudication and punishment phases, where the institutions to enforce compliance with the law have faltered.

Thus, solving the corruption conundrum would require strengthening the institutions and ensuring certainty of punishment.

The alternative is the endless creation of ad hoc bodies to make up for the shortcomings of the judiciary.