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EJ Macababbad - The Philippine Star
December 11, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The chair of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) is seeing its work stretched for two years, contrary to one to two months as predicted by the ombudsman.
“We will work very hard until whatever is the date of our existence,” ICI head Andres Reyes Jr. said in brief remarks yesterday. “I think we’re good for two years.”
It’s the first time that the commission has set a definite timeline for itself, even though President Marcos can dissolve it at any time under the sunset clause of Executive Order 94, which established the fact-finding body.
This comes despite Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla’s remarks last week that the ICI, tasked to investigate infrastructure projects over the past 10 years, may wrap up its operations in a month or two and turn over its work entirely to his office.
Earlier this month, former public works secretary Rogelio Singson resigned from the ICI, citing the stressful nature of the work.
Despite the two-year timeline, Reyes said it’s “OK” if the ICI will exist for a much shorter time because Congress is now deliberating bills to empower the commission, which Marcos asked the legislature to prioritize.
The ICI is currently swamped with 94 boxes of documents containing copies of reports, contracts and other pertinent files related to flood control projects.
On Tuesday, the Philippine National Police turned over 48 boxes of files involving flood works in Masinloc, Zambales; San Agustin, Romblon; San Jose, Occidental Mindoro; Noveleta, Imus City and General Trias City, Cavite and Rodriguez, Rizal.
Adding to that list are private citizens from the second district of Surigao del Norte who, in two affidavits spanning 67 pages, alleged that certain flood works and bridges in the province have been fully paid for years now but never completed, including the P294-million Anao-aon Bridge and the P96.4-million project along Kinabutan River.
Meanwhile, the weekly Tuesday meeting of the technical working group on asset recovery did not push through due to failure to reach a quorum.
Only seven agencies attended the virtual meeting: Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Customs, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, Department of Justice, Office of the Solicitor General and the ICI.
The meeting was supposed to finalize a memorandum of agreement delineating the roles of each agency to restitute assets obtained from stolen taxpayers’ money without duplicating efforts.
Keep politics out of IPC – Palace
While he supports the creation of an Independent People’s Commission (IPC), President Marcos urged lawmakers to ensure that the proposed body would not be used for their vested interests, Malacañang said yesterday.
The proposed Independent People’s Commission Act was one of the Marcos administration’s four priority legislative bills announced by Malacañang following the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council or LEDAC meeting at the Palace on Tuesday.
“The President agreed with those pushing for the Independent People’s Commission Act, which he called a ‘powerful body’ that will investigate all illegal infrastructure projects in the country. On the other hand, the President called on lawmakers to ensure that it is not used for politicking,” Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said at a press briefing.
Under Senate Bill 1512, the IPC will have the powers of contempt, the power to cancel professional licenses of the Professional Regulation Commission, the power to grant witness immunity and protection and the power to issue look out orders and recommend hold departure orders to proper authorities, among others.
Asked whether the ICI still has the President’s confidence following his move to make the IPC bill a priority measure, Castro said, “yes, still.”
Bogus complainants?
According to former Surigao del Norte congressman Robert Ace Barbers, graft investigators should think twice before accepting complainants and witnesses, as two “pseudo” complainants allegedly appeared before the ICI on Tuesday in possession of “fabricated” affidavits about irregular infrastructure projects in the province’s second district.
In a statement, Barbers said the two bogus complainants could have been “used and paid for” by his family’s political rivals who are embroiled in P10.75 billion worth of questionable infrastructure projects in Siargao.
Barbers’ political rivals are the Matugas family from Surigao del Norte, primarily Rep. Francisco Jose Matugas, who has been indicted by the ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan in relation to many other cases. – Helen Flores, Delon Porcalla
