Too many investigations, too little legislation
If we are indeed the sovereign Filipino people, and the politicians in public office are our servants, then we have the right to require them to render a report to us on what they have accomplished, if any, with the billions of taxes we have paid to finance government operations. We have elected senators and congressmen to legislate, and not to investigate. But, as it turns out, most of their time is spent in investigations, purportedly in aid of legislation. What legislations then have they passed to solve poverty, address unemployment, protect our national security and make sure that the fruits of economic growth trickle down to the poorest of the poor?
There is an Ombudsman, who is duly tasked by law, to investigate alleged corruptions in public service. There is a Secretary of Justice who supervises the NBI, the State prosecutors. There are thousands of judges to hear and decide cases. Their mandate is investigations. There are hundreds of thousands of policemen who are entrusted with the official functions of arrest, investigation and detention. And yet, most of our legislators do love to investigate especially if the proceedings are covered by national television. And so, if they have opted to focus on investigation, it is only right and proper that they should be required to render a detailed report on the results of their endless and multiple investigations.
They investigated many things, from the most trivial to the most inane, and ignore the most jugular issues like poverty and social justice. And yet, we still have to see what legislative enactment have so far been put into place as a result of such Congressional and Senate investigations. These legislative inquiries are being copied by the executive department, and even by local government units. Yet, there are no tangible or even intangible results. Legislators do love to talk, and to intervene even on cases that are already pending in courts and in the prosecutor's office. Worse, many investigations are biased. Investigators have a predetermined conclusions based on prejudice. And resource persons are insulted, ridiculed, and subjected to browbeating by politicians who just want to show off.
A few days ago, eleven men, women, and children died while working as construction workers in Guiguinto, Bulacan. The structure of the building collapsed burying under rubles and dust both the workers, their wives, and children who were only visiting their loved ones in the construction site. The police did its investigation. The Mayor's and the Governor's offices also investigated. The DOLE investigation was intended to stress on the safety of workers. DTI also investigated to determine whether the materials are genuine or fake. Everyone loves to investigate. But show us the results.
All such investigations are not synchronized and coordinated, thereby wasting time, resources, and efforts. The results are either non-existent or highly confidential that even the parties themselves are not notified of what are the findings, recommendations, and final output. Above all, there is no purposive follow-ups. Investigation reports are not used to guide future decisions. Even worse, investigations are being used to harass, to pressure, and to embarrass the respondents. The findings can even be used to blackmail, to libel and as pawn to illegal exaction and corrupt practices. Others are simply to harass their putative political opponents in the 2016 presidential polls.
This is a nation of calamities and investigations. Most of the times, the investigation is itself the calamity. And so, God have mercy on us. They have no mercy and compassion.
- Latest
