Magalong: I won’t let doubts ‘weaken’ ICI
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong has washed his hands of any involvement in the alleged corruption in public infrastructure projects in his city as he steps down as a special adviser to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).
President Marcos, who appointed Magalong to the fact-finding body, has yet to issue a statement on the matter but his press office called the resignation as “unfortunate.”
In a statement released on Saturday, a day after his resignation letter was leaked to the media, Magalong said his exit from the investigating panel was “not an easy choice, but necessary” after questionable transactions in his city’s public works surfaced in the ICI ongoing probe.
“Recent developments have cast doubt on the independence of the Commission. Independence is the bedrock of accountability, and without it, our credibility is compromised,” he said.
‘No conflict’
Magalong said he would not “allow these doubts to weaken the ICI and its mandate,” adding: “That is why I have chosen to step aside, not to abandon the fight (against corruption), but to protect the very integrity of the fight.”
He maintained, however, that there was “no conflict of interest” when he took over the role of “investigator” of the commission. Malacañang announced his inclusion to the ICI on Sept. 13, with retired Supreme Court Justice Andres Reyes Jr., as chair as well as former Public Works Secretary Rogelio “Babes” Singson and auditing firm executive Rossana Fajardo of SGV & Co.
“My work as Mayor of Baguio and my service with the ICI have always been guided by one principle: the highest standards of integrity in public service,” said Magalong, who is also a retired police general who led the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) during the Aquino administration.
‘Good investigator’
In his letter to the President dated Sept. 26, Magalong addressed Malacañang’s plan to study the implications of his appointment, saying that it has “undermined the role and mandate entrusted to me.”
His duty as city mayor of Baguio “remains at the core” of his public service, he added.
Presidential Communications Office Secretary Dave Gomez said Magalong’s resignation was “unfortunate.”
“The demand of the Filipino people from the (ICI) is higher than any one person. The commission, made up of distinguished professionals with unassailable integrity, has hit the ground running on Day One. The Palace respects the autonomy of the commission. Let’s allow them to do their job and deliver on their mandate,” Gomez said.
Mr. Marcos has spoken highly of Magalong, describing him as a “good investigator” and vouching for his good track record and integrity.
“There have been questions as to why Mayor Benjie has been included and the answer is very simple—when I went to Baguio and looked at those shady flood control projects, he immediately greeted me with a report,” he recalled during a Sept. 15 press conference.
Linked to Discayas
“If you remember, as CIDG head, he was the one who wrote the seminal report on the Mamasapano incident and that was … when I came to know of him and saw that he has integrity,” he said.
On Friday, Palace press officer Claire Castro said Mr. Marcos wants his legal team to review Magalong’s role so as not to compromise the integrity of the fact-finding body after two Baguio City government projects in 2022 were linked to the contractor couple Pacifico “Curlee” and Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya.
On top of this, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon also on Friday ordered the preventive suspension of six officials of the Baguio City district engineering office for their alleged role in the rigging of procurements for infrastructure projects.
Dizon and Magalong had been together in site inspections of questionable infrastructure projects as both the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and ICI conduct separate investigations to go after government officials, lawmakers and private contractors purportedly in collusion in pocketing billions of funds for public works.
Magalong had asked the Baguio City Council to conduct a third-party probe into the delayed tennis court project as well as a parking lot in Burnham Park’s Athletic Bowl that were awarded to the Discaya-owned St. Gerrard Construction.
ICI’s powers
Mr. Marcos, through Executive Order No. 94 issued this month, formed the ICI to look into irregularities in public infrastructure projects in the last 10 years, spanning the administrations of the late President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and former President Rodrigo Duterte. The fact-finding body’s powers include issuing subpoenas to secure documents and conducting hearings with witnesses and other resource persons to collect evidence.
Should they come up with significant findings, the commission will transmit recommendations or file charges in the concerned agencies, whether it be the Department of Justice, Office of the Ombudsman or the Civil Service Commission.
The ICI, in its series of hearings and inspections last week, has met with lawmakers to get their insights on the legislature’s oversight functions and collect evidence on what transpired in the budget process in the past years. They included Speaker Bojie Dy; Senators Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva; Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco; former Sen. Grace Poe; resigned Public Works Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral; as well as Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza, formerly of the Bulacan first district engineering office.
‘Deeply entrenched’
Magalong also led the site visits by the ICI in various areas, including a P96.5-million concrete revetment wall project, an infrastructure work meant to mitigate flooding and erosion in Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental, which he called “a crime scene.”
It has already been marked “completed” and “fully paid,” with St. Timothy Construction Corp., another firm linked to the Discayas, as its contractor on paper, despite residents attesting that not a single layer of cement was laid for the project.
Magalong, together with Dizon, also went to Tondo, Manila, to check the Sunog Apog pumping station, which they found only worsened the flooding in the area, and other flood control projects in the towns of Arayat and Candaba in Pampanga.
In his statement on Saturday, Magalong urged Filipinos to “never allow corrupt leaders and bureaucrats to steal the future of our children, and most importantly, the future of our country.”
“This will be a long fight, and we must be prepared to play the long game. The forces of corruption are deeply entrenched, but so too is the Filipino spirit of resilience and courage. Change will not happen overnight. As long as we remain vigilant, as long as we continue to resist, and as long as we keep faith in our country, then we will prevail,” he said. —WITH A REPORT FROM VINCENT CABREZA
