THE Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) is still operational and carrying out its mandate of investigating anomalies in flood control projects, Malacañang assured the public on Thursday.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was awaiting the ICI’s report before deciding its fate.
Castro also rejected claims that taxpayers’ money was being wasted due to the continued operations of the fact-finding panel.
“I believe the ICI is still operating and complying with its mandate,” she said during a press conference.
“There’s no money spent that we can say was wasted. The people in the ICI are still working and investigating the documents given to them,” Castro added.
She said the commission’s mandate remained in effect, saying that several documents remained under its custody.
“They are still investigating because there are still many documents left with them. So their investigation continues,” Castro said.
Earlier this month, the president said the work of the ICI was about to be finished, since it has already probed what needs to be scrutinized in the flood control controversy.
“It depends on how much work they still have left. If their work is finished, we will see what they can do next,” Marcos said.
The ICI only has one member left — its chairman, Andres Reyes Jr., following the resignation of former Public Works secretary Rogelio Singson and auditor Rossana Fajardo last year.
In recent days, questions have been raised about the commission’s viability after critics pointed to the lack of a full roster of commissioners.
Malacañang has repeatedly said the president retained confidence in the ICI and that the absence of additional commissioners did not prevent it from recommending cases to the Department of Justice or the Office of the Ombudsman.
