MANILA, Philippines — Amid the resignation of two commissioners of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), President Marcos would rather see the passage of a bill seeking to create an Independent People’s Commission (IPC), Malacañang stressed yesterday.
“Appointing replacements is not the priority of the President. His priority is to see the passage of the Independent People’s Commission bill,” Presidential Communications Secretary Dave Gomez said in a Viber message to The STAR.
Gomez said both former public works secretary Rogelio Singson and SGV & Co. country managing partner Rossana Fajardo had specific roles to play and had already completed the tasks they were asked to perform.
Fajardo announced on Friday her resignation from the commission, weeks after Singson stepped down.
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong also resigned as special adviser in September.
The proposed Independent People’s Commission Act was one of the Marcos administration’s priority bills. Marcos earlier urged lawmakers to ensure that the proposed body would not be used for their vested interests.
Senate Bill 1512 seeks to create the IPC to strengthen measures against anomalies in government infrastructure.
Under the bill, the IPC will have the powers to cite people in contempt; cancel professional licenses of the Professional Regulatory Commission; grant witness immunity and protection and issue look-out orders and recommend hold departure orders to proper authorities, among others.
The bill aims to expand the powers of the ICI, the body formed by Marcos through Executive Order 94 in September to probe substandard and ghost flood control projects in the last 10 years.
Earlier, ICI chairman Andres Reyes Jr. said the commission was “committed to submitting all its final recommendations” in connection with the flood control anomalies following the resignation of its two commissioners.
“To ensure the fulfillment of its mandate, the Commission will now focus on finalizing the remaining items that will be submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman in order to strengthen and add to the growing number of cases that will eventually be filed with the courts and hold those involved accountable,” Reyes said.
“The Commission remains fully committed to submitting all its final recommendations and ensuring that the appropriate institutions – particularly the ombudsman – have everything they need to bring these cases forward,” he said.
‘Hurry up’
With the ICI now deemed by several lawmakers as a lost cause, Akbayan party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña on Friday said it became more important for Congress to pass legislation that will institutionalize an investigative body focusing on infrastructure corruption.
In an interview with “Storycon” on One News, Cendaña described as “one of the greatest tragedies” the announcement that the ICI is already wrapping up its operations, saying it has not yet fulfilled the promise of putting in jail the alleged big names involved in infrastructure corruption.
He pushed for the passage of their proposed Independent Commission Against Infrastructure Corruption (ICAIC), which aims to expand the operations and provide more powers to the present ICI.
If passed, the bill will expand the commission’s membership from the current three to five, to include an industry expert and a representative from civil society.
While it is still the President who will appoint the ICAIC’s members, Cendaña said their bill clearly defines the qualifications of those who can be appointed to the body.
He also denied that the ICAIC will duplicate the work of the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman, saying it will serve as the “justice delivery network” to ensure that every step of the process is monitored.
“Given the gargantuan task that is this multibillion-peso corruption scandal, we really need that they work together, they are harmonized. We need a body like the ICAIC to unpack (the issue),” added the lawmaker. — Janvic Mateo, Jose Rodel Clapano