The expanded coverage of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to include all infrastructure projects and not just flood control projects is a most welcome development.
In like manner, I hope the scope of the sumbongsapangulo.ph website will likewise be expanded by not limiting its coverage to flood control projects only.
Better yet, the website can be made more valuable to taxpayers by including data on funding for all infrastructure projects of all agencies, from the National Expenditure Program to the General Appropriations Act, as well as the identities of the proponents of congressional amendments or insertions and all the way to the project implementation and completion. And yes, complete with geotagging, please.
This will maximize transparency every step of the way, not to mention public participation in monitoring where and how our taxes are being spent.
Meanwhile, there are bills filed in both Houses of Congress that will institutionalize the ICI, complete with all the powers in the mold of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) of Hong Kong and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) of Singapore.
It is long in coming.
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