No Livestream Of ICI Hearings

There will be no livestreaming of the investigation by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) on anomalies in flood control projects.

Newly appointed ICI executive director Brian Keith Hosaka made this clear on Friday, Sept. 26, saying the ICI’s investigation is a “process” that cannot be defined by piecemeal revelations.

The ongoing investigations on the issue by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee and the House infra-committee are livestreamed on TV and social media platforms.

“Investigating means statements will still have to be verified, so it’s a very dangerous thing if we livestream it,” Hosaka told One News’s “The Big Story,” just hours before news broke that ICI special adviser Benjamin Magalong resigned from his post.

“People might be misled,” he said. “We would like to prevent that because we want the people to trust the system and in the independent commission that we will be doing our jobs fairly, objectively and independently.”

People are glued to their phones or TVs as revelations unfold in congressional probes over anomalous flood control projects.

Thursday’s Senate Blue Ribbon hearing, which saw a former Public Works undersecretary implicating three senators in the scandal and a retired colonel claiming to have delivered suitcases of cash to a former speaker’s residence, amassed 2.2 million views on Facebook and YouTube.

The ICI, however, is carefully evaluating the credibility of each testimony presented, according to Hosaka.

“We cannot take the testimony or the statement of any single individual as gospel truth,” he said. “These things would have to be verified because we’re dealing with an important matter.”

Hosaka, who was appointed executive director on Wednesday, Sept. 24, officially reported for work on Friday. Under Executive Order 94, he is tasked to “execute and administer the policies and decisions of the ICI and manage the day-to-day operations.”

With the commission still in its infancy stage, Hosaka said his first order of business is to facilitate the hiring of accountants, engineers, lawyers and staff members who can provide technical guidance to the ICI.

“We have to have a complete staff to help out the commission to be more efficient, to be faster,” he said.

The commission is “hopeful” that it can start recommending charges before the year ends, according to Hosaka, but he admitted the probe can take up to two years.

Still, he assured the public that the ICI is “fast-tracking” its processes. “We want this done because we hear the clamor. We hear the voice of the Filipinos. We’re not blind; we’re not deaf,” Hosaka said.