Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima can't help but feel "disappointed and frustrated" by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure's (ICI) refusal to livestream its proceedings.

"ICI was created to seek for truth, justice and accountability. And transparency is an essential ingredient thereof, since its purpose would be defeated if its hearings are not accessible to the public," De Lima said in a statement Monday, Sept. 29.

"Di ko gets (I don't get it)," added the deputy minority leader.

As such, De Lima asked the ICI, which had been tasked by Malacañang to look into the flood control projects corruption scandal, to reconsider the way it carried out its mandate.

“This is very disappointing and frustrating—a body with limited powers to investigate anomalous flood control projects, and which is merely a recommendatory board, is not fully accessible to the public,” De Lima said.

“When everyone is fully engaged on the issue of corruption as revealed by the Congressional hearings, here comes ICI denying what the public wants. Saang banda ang transparency dun? (Where is the transparency there?)" added the former senator and Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary.

Chaired by retired Supreme Court (SC) Justice Andres Reyes Jr., the ICI holds closed-door hearings and meetings at their headquarters in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Taguig City.

In contrast, the House Infrastructure Committee and Senate Blue Ribbon Committee holds livestreams their marathon hearings on the topic.

De Lima said the ICI must open its hearings to the public for full transparency and to restore the trust of the people.

“Paano natin malalaman kung tumutugma ang mga detalyeng nakalap ng mga naunang hearings sa Kongreso sa ICI kung hindi nila isasapubliko ang mga hearings? Paano mapapanatag ang mga Pilipino na walang pinagtatakpan at walang pinoprotektahan ang imbestigasyon nila?” she asked.

(How will we know if the details gathered from previous congressional hearings match those of the ICI if they won’t make the hearings public? How can Filipinos be assured that nothing is being covered up and no one is being protected in their investigation?)

“People are watching. Sa mga hearing na ito, hindi lang sa mga akusado nakatutok ang taumbayan, kundi pati na rin sa mga nag-iimbestiga—kung tapat at epektibo ba nilang nagagampanan ang kanilang tungkulin,” De Lima explained.

(People are watching. In these hearings, the public is not only focused on the accused, but also on the investigators—whether they are faithfully and effectively fulfilling their duties.)

Cendaña 

De Lima's colleague from the minority bloc, Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña, expressed the same sentiments as the former.

"There's no real accountability without transparency. Let the people in. Karapatan ng taumbayan na ninakawan ng bilyon-bilyon na mapanaood ang proceeding ng ICI (It's the right of the people, who have been robbed of billions, to watch the ICI proceedings)," he said.