House panel OKs bill creating anti-graft body amid flood control scandal probe

A HOUSE of Representatives committee on Thursday approved a measure seeking to institutionalize a government anti-corruption body focused on graft in public works, as part of efforts to strengthen investigations into a widening multibillion-peso flood control scandal.

Congressmen approved the unnumbered substitute bill that seeks to empower the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) just days after House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III pledged the chamber will have “zero delays” in passing it, as pressure over a graft-weary public mounts.

A copy of the revised bill was not immediately available, but it seeks to grant sweeping powers to the proposed investigative body like authorizing it to investigate allegations of graft, corruption, ill-gotten wealth and plunder in national government public works projects.

It also proposes that the commission be composed of a retired senior judge, an engineer, an accountant, a public finance academic, and a representative from a non-government organization. They would operate under a sunset provision, with its mandate set to expire in 2028. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio