EDITORIAL – Investigating the shameless

It’s been nearly two weeks since President Marcos initiated a shame campaign against public officials and their accomplices in the private sector who have been pocketing funds meant for flood control projects.

To this day it’s unclear who or which agency is conducting a probe. The Commission on Audit is mandated to review such projects, although various quarters have pointed out the difficulty of auditing flood control interventions particularly dredging and desilting of bodies of water.

It’s not the Department of Public Works and Highways conducting the probe, the President has clarified, although the DPWH is drawing up the list of all the flood control projects supposedly completed or under implementation in the past three years.

The President issued the clarification amid observations that DPWH personnel themselves are being implicated in what he had described as “palpak” and “guni-guni” or defective and imagined or non-existent flood control projects.

Last Friday, a congressman said three committees of the House of Representatives would be jointly conducting an inquiry into the controversy. The tri-comm is interested particularly in questioning Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong about their statements linking lawmakers to anomalous flood control and other public works projects.

While the public is interested in finding out the extent of the corruption that President Marcos highlighted in his recent State of the Nation Address, questions have been raised on the propriety and impartiality of lawmakers conducting an inquiry into anomalies that could implicate members of Congress.

Eyebrows were already raised when lawmakers applauded lustily as the President in his SONA told crooks pocketing funds for flood control to have some shame – “mahiya naman kayo.”

Magalong has expressed readiness to face the House and substantiate his stories about brazen corruption. He stressed, however, that he should be treated not as a respondent in a criminal or administrative complaint but as a resource person. Can the House do this?

The President, back from his latest overseas trip, can designate a body that can carry out an impartial and credible audit of flood control projects. He can speed up the designation of a new ombudsman, and task state prosecutors to help in determining corruption in flood control.

After his much applauded jab at the shameless, the last thing he should want is to be accused of protecting shameless sacred cows, and of complicity in a cover-up.