Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon found wisdom in the complaint of former senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. with the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) in that the latter was never given the opportunity to air his side regarding the flood control projects mess.

As such, Ridon, a lawyer, has cautioned the ICI regarding a possible "overreach" in the performance of its mandate.

"Kailangan maging mapagbantay din po yung ICI doon sa (The ICI also needs to be wary about) any indication that there might be a bit of a due process overreach," he said.

"Kasi dito po sa isang referral ng ICI (Because when it comes to this one referral), particularly involving congressmen-contractors, I think around seven to eight alleged congressmen-contractors have been referred to the Ombudsman but they were never given a chance to appear before the ICI for deliberative proceedings," noted Ridon.

"I think this is the same complaint of former senator Bong Revilla, that his name was referred to the Ombusman without being invited to ICI deliberative proceedings," the House Committee on Public Accounts chairman said.

Created via President Marcos' Executive Order (EO) No.94, the ICI has been holding hearings since mid-September in a bid to exact accountability on persons and entities involved in anomalous and "ghost" flood mitigation projects.

With the ICI now submitting case referrals--or endorsements for criminal cases--to the Office of fhe Ombudsman, Ridon reckoned that "A distinction needs to be made."

"Yun pong DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), wala tayong debate dyan, yun AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council) (We have mo debate when it comes to the DPWH and AMLC). They can do a direct referral to the Ombudsman at any given time," he said.

"But obviously [the] ICI is supposedly a fact-finding commission," Ridon said, alluding to the body's "special investigator" role in the flood control projects corruption scandal.

He likened the function of the ICI to the investigative committees in either chamber of Congress.

"And similar to the work of Congress and the Senate--of the House infra-comm and the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee--kung saan, pagka kayo ay napangalanan, mayroon pong pagkakataong sumagot (wherre, if your names were implicated there, you will be given the chance to answer the allegations)."

But in the particular referral, their names of the supposed respondents were referred to the Ombudsman without ever being invited to the ICI.

"So I think moving forward, dapat hindi na ho maging ganun yung gawi ng komisyong ito (the commission should refrain from such actions)," Ridon said.