Accountability cannot be reached

Disappointment is evident among millions of Filipinos in the country as scandal after scandal reveals itself to the public eye, encircling the issue of flood control projects. Thanks to effective journalism, they helped millions of Filipinos get a sense of how dysfunctional their government could be. 

And when the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) expressed its intention of not broadcasting its hearings, the people were once again left to drown in their frustrations.

While opposing the move may look cynical or even superficial for some, it carries a heavier meaning for those who have lost a loved one if it was not due to the poor, substandard, or even non-existent flood-control infrastructures. To witness the truth unfold in its unfiltered form is the least that we could do for them.

From the perspective of the ICI, the investigation needs a thorough review before publicizing its findings to avoid people being “misled”. However, it is important to press that bringing justice behind closed doors undermines the struggle of the Filipinos in seeking fairness for what they have lost. And with the current pace at which the news is unraveling, the requirement for transparency as a solution becomes ever clearer.

Who could have known that ₱118 billion has already been lost to corruption if it were not for the whistleblowers who have revealed this gruelling truth to the public. The opaque and close-to-public schemes resulted in the current government’s image taint not just locally, but also internationally, as potential investments in the country saw a “draw back” upon hearing the news of corruption scandals.

Let’s Play Jeopardy: Political or Not?

Accountability and transparency go hand-in-hand when taking the context of this issue. Trying to examine the steps being taken by the ICI can get quite tricky and subject to numerous interpretations to many. The official statement shows their concern over people being misinformed, but does it really entail the whole picture of the story?

After all, it should not be cumbersome for authorities that claim to be “integrous” and “credible” to let their people have a glimpse of the steps they are taking to resolve the issue if their intentions are clear and just. Hence, there must be a variable affecting the decision that is intentionally left unbothered and implied.

The government’s wariness over the ‘domino’ effect of a possible challenge to the status quo explains the whole ‘act’ that ICI is carrying out. Due to the recent “Asian Spring”, where a series of protests across countries in South and Southeast Asia began to sweep the political landscape of the region, livestreaming the hearings of ICI could potentially stir more anger and protest that could go well beyond what happened last September 21st on the streets nationwide and follow the suit of our neighboring countries.

Truly, this demonstrates the power of social media to shape perceptions of Filipinos to incite political outcomes, like how internet trolls during the 2022 polls have affected election outcomes. And with the political climate in the country, intensifying the unrest—just by asking for simple transparency and accountability—seems not to appeal to the officials who are too busy ‘glorifying’ their image to stay out of trouble.

Try not to let the winner take it all.

Fighting corruption and for competent governance is truly a continuous process in the context of the Philippine society. People have been deceived for generation after generation, as shown by the cyclical phenomenon of ‘revolt-after-scandal,’ so now is the time for a collective call for the porousness of information going inside and outside the public sector.

After all, the decision not to air the hearings being carried out by the supposedly “independent” commission to the masses shows inconsistency with the usual mechanisms being carried out by the other executive branches, like the Senate and the Congress, of airing their hearings despite yielding unease from people getting dragged on with the issue.

The unfortunate scale of what has been plundered from the people of the country deserves no reservation over the steps that need to be taken to straighten things up. As said earlier, this issue no longer limits itself to the simple notion of “livestreaming,” but it extends to a greater continuity of national politics.

Taking all of those into account, demanding that hearings be shown in the public eye becomes a justifiable move for everyone, as it gives a grave sense of burden to those who have been so out of touch with reality about who truly is in charge, even if it means challenging the status quo and going for a systematic overhaul.