ICI to Marcos: What now?
The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) is seeking clarity from President Marcos about its future now that only the chairperson is left out of the three officials appointed to form the body four months ago.
According to ICI special adviser Rodolfo Azurin Jr., he made a suggestion last week for the remaining official, chair Andres Reyes Jr., to send a letter to the President asking about his plans for the commission.
“I think it’s high time we wrote to the Office of the President for us to get a clear guidance on what will be the fate of the ICI,” he said in an interview on One News on Monday.
Azurin said that since the resignations in December of two ICI commissioners—former Public Works Secretary Rogelio “Babes” Singson, and SGV & Co. country managing partner Rossana Fajardo—they have yet to hear from Malacañang whether the vacancies would be filled.
“We need to formally ask them if they have already eyed replacements for the commissioners who resigned because the ICI will not function properly with two lacking commissioners,” said Azurin, a former Philippine National Police chief.
The ICI, he said, was supposed to invite “high-profile” personalities identified by former Department of Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo in his affidavit as an applicant to the Witness Protection Program of the Department of Justice.
“Unfortunately, we cannot conduct hearings with only one commissioner remaining out of the original three members of the ICI,” he said.
Azurin noted that the ICI employees would also need to be informed of the future of the fact-finding body, “so they can be prepared in any eventuality.”
Work continues
Despite the limitations, Azurin said, work goes on at the ICI office in Taguig City.
“Our lawyers continue to review numerous documents, including the bidding documents of identified [anomalous infrastructure] projects. They are also preparing for the referral of more cases, so that once the two vacant commissioners are filled, it will be easier to brief them and discuss which cases are due for referral to the Office of the Ombudsman,” he added.
The ICI’s Technical Working Group (TWG) on Tuesday conducted its fifth closed-door asset recovery meeting in connection to the flood control anomalies.
Presiding over the 1 p.m. meeting was Renato Paraiso, TWG chair and acting executive director of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center.
In his opening statement, Paraiso said the TWG would continue the work for recovering assets and case buildup on the flood control anomalies.
“It is important that we do not lose sight of why we are here—to make the people responsible for this flood control scandal accountable, recover as much assets as we can, and preserve the assets so that the people will have something to look upon whenever they render their judgments,” he said.
Aside from Azurin and ICI executive director Brian Keith Hosaka, also in the meeting were representatives of the Office of the Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Anti-Money Laundering Council, Armed Forces of the Philippines, and Bureau of Customs.
Azurin said that before Dec. 15 last year, when Singson’s resignation took effect, the cases of all “priority personalities” covered by the ICI investigation had been referred to the Office of the Ombudsman.
“It is now within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction to determine whether there is probable cause to elevate the cases to the Sandiganbayan,” he said.
Awaiting instructions
In a briefing on Tuesday, Palace press officer Claire Castro said Mr. Marcos had yet to give instructions regarding the ICI’s status or the posts vacated by Singson and Fajardo.
“The President’s order was for the ICI to carry on with its mandate, continue with their investigations and stay at their role as a fact-finding committee,” she added. “We will wait for their letter so that the President may answer them adequately.”
Castro earlier said there had been no discussions about replacements but that the President was considering a congressional measure to have another commission created by law to take over the ICI.
Last week, Sen. Imee Marcos, the President’s sister, said she received information that the ICI would be formally dissolved on Feb. 1.
In response, Hosaka, who also serves as the ICI spokesperson, said the body had yet to receive any notice from the Palace on the matter.
Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano earlier noted that among the concerns of the ICI members was their exposure to being sued in the course of their investigative work.
He explained that they are not like the Ombudsman who enjoys immunity from suit while performing official functions and can only be removed through impeachment.
According to Mr. Marcos’ Executive Order (EO) No. 94 which created the ICI, the body will remain in operation until it accomplishes its mandate or dissolved by the President.
The three-member body was tasked to investigate all public infrastructure projects in the past 10 years—from 2015 to 2025.
The period covers the last 18 months of the Aquino III administration, the whole six-year term of the Duterte administration, and the first half of Mr. Marcos’ term. —WITH A REPORT FROM MARY JOY SALCEDO
