Palace on Marcoleta's ICI doubts: You can't get evidence out of thin air

''You just cannot get evidence out of thin air.''

This was the response of Malacañang to Senator Rodante Marcoleta after he questioned the independence of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure, the body probing the anomalous and faulty flood control projects.

"Ang pagiging independent ng isang investigative body ay makikita kung ito ba ay impartial, walang kinikilingan, walang kinakampihan, walang tinatanggap na suhol o napapabalitang tumanggap ng suhol para ipagtanggol ang nasasabing sangkot," said Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro on Wednesday.

(The independence of an investigative body can be seen if it is impartial, unbiased, non-partisan, and does not accept bribes or is rumored to have accepted bribes to defend those allegedly involved.)

"Ang ICI ay isang independent commission, magiimbestiga, at saan ba sila kukuha ng mga impormasyon? Sa lahat ng maaari nilang pagkakuhanan. You just cannot get evidence out of thin air. Magmumula rin ito sa mga dokumento mula sa gobyerno, hindi lamang 'yun ang titingnan ng ICI, lahat ng anggulo na maaari nilang makuha para makumpleto ang ebidensya, kukuhanin po nila,'' she added. 

(The ICI is an independent commission, it will investigate, and where will they get the information? From everything they can get. You just cannot get evidence out of thin air. It will also come from documents from the government, that's not all the ICI will look at. Every angle they can get to complete the evidence, they will take it.)

On Tuesday, Marcoleta raised concerns about ICI supposedly being “too dependent” on other government agencies with regard to the investigation into the flood control anomalies. This, after the ICI met with Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Senate President Pro Tempore and blue ribbon chairman Panfilo Lacson earlier this week. 

“I’m a little bit worried about the collaboration that the blue ribbon committee and the ICI is now having without defining the limits, the nature, and the extent of the collaboration between the ICI… I don’t know how independent they can be if they are dependent on records, on information, or people that we can produce for them,” said Marcoleta. 

Castro, however, maintained that there is nothing wrong if the ICI would get information from the Senate and the House of Representatives, which are also looking into corruption in the flood control projects.

''Kung may maitutulong po ang Senado, ang House of Representatives sa kanilang mga naisiwalat na diyan sa pamamagitan ng kanilang pagiimbestiga, bakit naman hindi pwedeng itulong ito?'' she said.

(If the Senate and the House of Representatives can help with what has already been revealed through their investigations, why can't they help?) —VAL, GMA Integrated News