Romualdez wants deferral of 2nd ICI hearing

MANILA, Philippines — Resigned speaker Rep. Martin Romualdez has requested postponement of his second appearance before the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).

Romualdez was scheduled to appear before the ICI on Wednesday, Oct. 22, but the commission announced yesterday that he will undergo a medical procedure that day. 

A new schedule has yet to be released.

The fact-finding body earlier invited Romualdez to shed light on his “familiarity and personal knowledge as speaker of the House relative to the national budget insertions, as well as the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) flood control projects.”

He made his first appearance at the ICI’s office in Taguig on Tuesday, expressing confidence that he would be vindicated.

“I’m not hiding anything and there is nothing for me to hide,” he said.

Former representative Zaldy Co, who chaired the House appropriations panel during the 19th Congress, was also scheduled to appear last Tuesday but failed to do so despite being subpoenaed.

The ICI initially considered petitioning a regional trial court to cite Co in indirect contempt for ignoring the subpoena but decided to hold off.

“Upon verification, we learned that there was difficulty in serving these invitations and subpoenas, so we will have to backtrack and send these subpoenas and invitations again,” ICI executive director Brian Keith Hosaka told “The Big Story” on One News on Friday.

Hosaka said the commission’s legal team is still assessing whether it has sufficient basis to pursue its original plan to cite Co in contempt.

“We want to make sure that when we file our petition or application for indirect contempt in the courts, it will have sufficient basis,” he said.

Hosaka reiterated that the ICI has no plans to invite Sen. Bong Go at this time, as the commission has yet to examine possible links between CLTG Builders, owned by Go’s father, and Discaya-linked firms.

US embassy visit criticized

Meanwhile, the visit of a United States embassy official to the ICI has stirred criticism.

“What the hell is the US doing interfering in this matter?” former Bayan Muna party-list representative Teddy Casiño wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Michael Kelleher, the embassy’s acting deputy chief of mission, had a “getting to know” session with the ICI without offering any form of assistance.

Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co sarcastically asked whether the ICI preferred “US interference” over “transparency and public hearings.”

Fisherfolk group Pamalakaya likewise called the visit “unacceptable,” saying the commission appeared more open to foreign diplomats than to the Filipino public.

“As if the US has authority over internal matters in this country, while the Filipinos keep being blind,” the group said yesterday.

Hosaka clarified that Kelleher’s visit was purely informational.

“[The embassy] wanted to know what the mandate of the ICI is and [it] wanted to know what our plans are, how we work, what we would like to achieve in our mandate,” he said.

“We explained to them that we’re basically here to investigate these anomalous flood control projects and other infrastructure projects, our methodology and it was more of an exchange of ideas,” he added.