Palace: Lack of commissioners shouldn’t block ICI from fulfilling mandate
The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) can still function even though two of its commissioners have resigned, leaving only the chair, Palace press officer Claire Castro said on Wednesday.
“It is not possible that they have no capacity to recommend cases for investigation. Anyone can give recommendations to the Ombudsman. So, if their function is to recommend the filing of cases before the Ombudsman, even if there is only one member, as long as there is sufficient evidence, this would not prevent them from recommending the filing of cases,” Castro explained.
ICI special adviser Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said on Tuesday that with just ICI chair Andres Reyes remaining out of the three officials appointed to the body, the commission could not function properly.
He added that he had suggested that Reyes write to the President to get guidance on the fate of the commission.
The two other commissioners, former Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson and Rossana Fajardo, resigned in December.
Tasks already finished
“We acknowledge that if the ICI has more officials to investigate or study the cases, the work would indeed be better. But that does not mean that it cannot function if there is only one,” Castro said.
According to the Palace official, the tasks of Singson and Fajardo “have already been completed.”
“What remains is the collating and compiling of evidence so that other cases can be recommended to the Department of Justice and the Ombudsman,” Castro said.
Asked if President Marcos sees no need and urgency to appoint replacement commissioners, Castro said the decision was up to him.
“But as of the moment, the fact that there is only one member, that is Chairman Reyes, in the ICI is not an obstacle for the body to fulfill its mandate,” she added.
Castro said that the President’s current instruction for the ICI was “to carry on with its mandate, continue with their investigations and stay at their role as a fact-finding committee.”
She also urged the ICI to submit a letter to Mr. Marcos so he could answer their questions directly.
In September, the President issued Executive Order No. 94 creating the three-member ICI, which was tasked to investigate all public infrastructure projects in the past 10 years—from 2015 to 2025, encompassing his term as well as those of former Presidents Rodrigo Duterte and Benigno Aquino III.
Based on the EO’s sunset provision, the ICI shall remain in operation until it accomplishes its mandate or unless sooner dissolved by Mr. Marcos.
