The problem with the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI)
by Sonny Melencio
The problem with the ICI is not about giving it “more teeth” but giving it a “new body.”
The ICI is a small, elite-appointed body. A genuine anti-corruption commission must include participation from affected communities, engineers and workers on the ground, civil society watchdogs, and people’s organizations. Without broad public participation, it lacks legitimacy.
Corruption is systemic and massive, yet the ICI is tiny, insulated, and ineffective. Global models like South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission – a credible, broad-based, and civil society-led body chaired by anti-apartheid Archbishop Desmond Tutu – show how powerful commissions can be when they are rooted in social movements and community participation.
The ICI is the opposite, its membership is drawn from the same elite networks that benefited from the system it claims to investigate.
The recent resignation of Rogelio ‘Babes’ Singson and earlier, Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong, underscore internal fractures. Public trust has collapsed to the point where Congressman Edgar Erice even declared the ICI “dead.”
Why is the ICI not trusted?
Let me cite a number of reasons:
• There is yet no high-level official involved in corruption who has been jailed.
• Its hearings are behind closed-door, so there’s no transparency.
• It was created by a president himself implicated in corruption. President Marcos Jr. issued EO 94, appointed its members, set its mandate, and controls its budget. It is not independent from those it may need to investigate.
The ICI’s powers are also vague and weak. It can “recommend” cases but has no authority to issue subpoenas, freeze assets, or compel testimony. Structurally, it was designed to be ineffective.
Its actions appear selective rather than systemic. It has recommended criminal and administrative charges against some senators and congressmen (Joel Villanueva, Jinggoy Estrada, Zaldy Co) and a number of DPWH engineers and officers of contractor firms involved in the corruption. But it only asked for “further investigation” for others (Chiz Escudero, Nancy Binay, Grace Poe, and Mark Villar). This inconsistency feeds suspicions of political bias.
Instead of a weapon for accountability, it has become a shield. It absorbs public anger, delays prosecution, and protects the administration by promising “institutional reforms” instead of pursuing immediate action on wrongdoing.
The ICI does not confront the machinery of corruption. Dynasties, contractor-politician cartels, pork barrel capture, and “favored contractors” remain untouched. The ICI simply adds another layer of bureaucracy — elite oversight over elite corruption.
It is also being weaponized in the Marcos–Duterte factional war. The commission is used to protect allies, target opponents, and construct an illusion of reform while the underlying corrupt structure remains.
Its silence on Zaldy Co’s allegations
The ICI’s silence on Zaldy Co’s allegations is telling. In multiple videos, Co accused Marcos and Romualdez of ₱100 billion budget insertions and ₱56 billion in kickbacks. Even if some details are questionable, the magnitude of the allegations demands investigation. Instead, officials hide behind technicalities to avoid probing the President.
Co’s revelations point to centralized, orchestrated corruption involving the executive, legislative leaders, and contractors — a coordinated system, not isolated wrongdoing.
The chain of resignations at ICI suggests a deeper rot especially amid the escalating and open Marcos-Duterte factions.
The ICI was designed to fail. It was an elite-created, elite-controlled, opaque, underpowered, and weaponized body. It does not challenge the system of corruption, it stabilizes it.
What is needed
What is needed is not another Malacañang-appointed commission but a new investigative body rooted in civil society and affected stakeholders in corrupted flood-control and other infrastructure projects.
We need a South African-style of Truth and Reconciliation Commission: a broad, genuinely independent, people-led, and empowered to expose the full architecture of corruption. If it comes after our call ‘Resign All, Establish a People’s Transition Council,” so be it. We cannot live with a broken system that continues to oppress all of us. #
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