With its attrition rate, the Independent Commission for Infrastructure could soon close shop. Less than three months since its creation, the ICI has already lost two of its key members.
The first to quit was Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who was named ‘special adviser who will act as an investigator’ of the ICI, according to an official report dated Sept. 13 released by the Presidential Communications Office.
Magalong, who has been calling attention to corruption in infrastructure projects long before President Marcos launched his crackdown on graft, expressed dismay upon hearing from Palace press officer Claire Castro that he was not supposed to serve as an investigator but merely as special adviser to the ICI.
‘I think I struck a nerve,’ Magalong said at the time, adding that his work ‘may have hit too close to home.’ He did not elaborate on his statements.
Magalong has been replaced by retired national police chief Rodolfo Azurin Jr. It’s unclear if his role is also limited to being a special adviser.
Yesterday, one of just three regular members of the ICI also announced his resignation effective Dec. 15. Former public works secretary Rogelio Singson quit because the stressful work of the ICI had taken its toll on his ‘aging’ body, according to ICI chair Andres Reyes Jr., quoting Singson.
That leaves only auditor Rossana Fajardo, SGV and Co. country managing partner, as ICI member, apart from the chair. Singson’s departure and the high attrition rate prompted Senior Deputy Minority Leader Edgar Erice to remark yesterday that ‘the ICI is dead.’
Erice and several other minority members of the House of Representatives have been prodding President Marcos to certify as urgent a bill that will give the ICI teeth to carry out an independent probe, including the power to issue subpoenas and cite in contempt those who defy the body.
Those limitations have been pointed out since the President created the ICI through Executive Order No. 94 dated Sept. 11. It also took nearly two months before Malacañang approved the release of P41 million as funding for the ICI until year-end.
Erice claimed that Singson had lamented to him the trajectory of the ICI probe, which was starting to smack of a Palace deodorant and ‘punching bag’ as well as – in the words of Erice – ‘a washing machine.’
If Malacañang is serious in wanting an independent commission that will probe infrastructure anomalies, it must address those issues.