Blue Ribbon’s burden

The resumption of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s probe into the flood control mess is hobbled by the same credibility problem that plagued the Independent Committee for Infrastructure (ICI) that was widely dismissed as a smokescreen for the architects of the massive corruption scheme.

The panel has indicated it will soon release a report, following months of controversial hearings nominally conducted “in aid of legislation.”

To fulfill its mandate to halt the rot exemplified by allegations involving members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, the panel must confront the root of the crisis.

For instance, former Senate President Franklin Drilon said the hearings’ output must directly benefit Filipinos and restore their trust in government.

Legislation must be proposed to prohibit Unprogrammed Allocations (UA) in the budget, which had become a source of abuse.

Drilon pointed to the UA as being manipulated by congressmen and senators to fund pork barrel projects, including the notorious flood control projects.

To show his sincerity, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. can adopt a policy whereby items in the UA will not be released until a budget surplus is identified.

Drilon said the Chief Executive can immediately do this “as a matter of policy because (the UA is) still in the 2026 budget.”

“I would strongly suggest that the President issue a statement that the UA will not be released until the conditions are complied with and he must make the conditions public.”

Regarding the speeding up of the “Floodgate” investigations, Drilon suggested the Ombudsman be authorized to hire private lawyers for the cases “because obviously, at this stage, the Ombudsman needs assistance.”

The Department of Justice (DoJ) is investigating 421 flood control projects, and the government should provide evidence for each of them. The proof must also be beyond a reasonable doubt.

“Do not expect the Ombudsman to finish this in a month. In fact, I could not understand the statement before that they will send people to jail before 31 December 2025. Obviously, it was not achievable,” according to Drilon.

Another thing that should be part of the report is legislation to limit Congress’ authority over its members or an exemption from the Ombudsman process.

The Ombudsman should have jurisdiction over legislators because the exemption from prosecution should be limited only to speeches delivered in the chambers, not to other matters, according to the veteran legislator.

“Otherwise, it can be interpreted that the legislators are above the law,” Drilon said.

The best indication that legislators are submitting to the call for decency would be that they accept stronger sanctions than other offenders.

Legislators found to have committed anomalies must suffer the maximum penalty, “so that it is a policy pronouncement that indeed those who violated the public trust and their mandate should be more liable or should be punished more than the ordinary bureaucrat.”

The clincher would be an earnest effort to pass an anti-dynasty law. “The dynastic situations in the provinces are a principal factor for the poverty level in those municipalities,” Drilon assessed.

The UA remains part of the yearly budget despite its likely violation of the Constitution.

“The Constitution requires that a source of funds must back up an appropriation. That is why at the start of the budget process, when the President submits a budget to Congress, it is accompanied by a document called the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Funds.”

For many who followed the budget manipulation over the past three years and the revelation of the theft of public funds through overpriced projects, the repurposing of the UA from a collection of standby programs to a list of the most essential projects left the government with no choice but to seek financing.

In the past three years’ budgets, these essential projects were replaced with items designed to secure kickbacks for legislators.

Abolishing the UA would deny the crooks in government a convenient conduit for pork barrel insertions.

But Congress has an uncanny ability to find new loopholes in the budget to satisfy its enduring craving for pork.