By Gonzalo Duque

 

THE concerns raised by business groups in our country should prompt the Marcos administration to take note.

Not all of them insist that the hearings of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) be held in public, so our people would know the extent of the corruption going on in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). But they want definite results, and soon.

A Senate bill has been filed to arm the ICI with prosecutorial power and financial and operational independence.

I am very confident that the Senate will approve the proposed bill, but I doubt if the House of Representatives will do the same with their counterpart bill.

What was otherwise a circus created by the administration is now slowly making the Marcos administration a victim of its own creation.

Once the hearings are made public, it will expose the accountability of all those who were responsible for the execution of the budget of the DPWH.

Since President Marcos said he thoroughly reviewed, and in fact he bragged, that he read all the  4,447 pages of the 2025  national budget page by page, full accountability will now lead to the doorstep of Malacañang.

I am seeing a repeat of the Agrava Commission that was organized by his father, Ferdinand E. Marcos, to investigate the Ninoy Aquino assassination, albeit such an investigation was not held in public.

When the investigation ended, the findings had to go through the Office of the Sandiganbayan headed by Justice Manuel R. Pamaran.

The conclusion of the court then did not satisfy the cry of the public to include General  Fabian Ver as among the guilty parties.

Now that the hearings of the newly formed ICI  will be held in public, our people will not be satisfied if the real guilty parties are not held accountable.

Let’s wait and see.

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I read the resolution of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, penned by Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo, regarding their giving the green light to City Legal Officer Aurora Valle to file the necessary charges against the contractors of former Mayor Brian Lim and his cohorts relative to the various substandard, ghost as well and abandoned projects.

Congratulations! Although it seems that the central figure in the said resolution is the contractors and their insurers, the resolution did not specify any government official involvement in the contract.

Maybe, Mayor Belen should look into this. Parang matabang yong Resolution No. R-012 dahil mga contractors lang ang kakasuhan.

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I attended the 26th induction program of the Rotary Club of Dagupan last October 15, 2025.

Our new president is Mylene Manaois Tanedo, who gracefully accepted the challenge of leading our club during its 26th year.

Our Rotary Club has faced a lot of challenges since its inception.

Looking back, I could not believe that we have survived all those years.

Mylene Tanedo is a small-but-terrible woman. Being young, I am very confident that many more will join our club in the future.