SIX MONTHS, NINE REFERRALS, ZERO BIG FISH IN DETENTION — THE ICI CLOSES SHOP

The Independent Commission for Infrastructure operated for exactly six months. In that time, two of its three commissioners quit, it lost the ability to take official actions for the last three of those months, and the vast majority of the politicians it implicated remain free.

On March 13, 2026, ICI Chairperson Andres Reyes Jr. — a retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and the only remaining member of the body — issued a statement recommending the commission wind down operations. It will remain open through March 31 to wrap up paperwork, then go dark.

President Marcos had already signaled this outcome two days earlier, telling reporters in New York that the ICI's "brief has already been fulfilled."

WHAT THE ICI WAS AND WHAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO DO

Executive Order No. 94, signed September 11, 2025, created the ICI as an ad hoc fact-finding body to investigate anomalies in government flood control and infrastructure projects going back 10 years.

The body had no prosecutorial power. It could gather evidence, issue subpoenas, recommend charges, and refer cases to the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice.

It was created after public outrage over Marcos's July 2025 State of the Nation Address, in which he declared that 5,500 flood control projects had been completed. Typhoon Carina flooding days later made those claims difficult to defend. Finance Secretary Ralph Recto told the Senate that up to 118.5 billion pesos in flood control funds may have been lost to corruption over just two years.

WHAT IT ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHED

The ICI submitted nine referrals to the Ombudsman covering 65 individuals, and coordinated referrals of 66 more to the Department of Justice. The Anti-Money Laundering Council froze around 25 billion pesos in assets. The commission convened 20 government agencies into a Technical Working Group for Asset Recovery and developed three information systems for detecting fraud in infrastructure projects.

On March 12, two police vehicles transported ICI documents and evidence to the Ombudsman's office in Quezon City.

Among those implicated: former Senator Bong Revilla (plunder charges recommended), Senators Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada, former House Speaker Martin Romualdez (referred for further investigation), former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan, and contractor Zaldy Co, declared a fugitive from justice by the Sandiganbayan in December 2025. Senators Francis Escudero, Nancy Binay, Grace Poe, and Mark Villar were referred for further investigation.

Of that list, only a handful of contractors and former district engineers have actually been detained.

THE BODY THAT COLLAPSED FROM WITHIN

The ICI started with three commissioners. By January 2026, it was down to one.

Former DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson — public works chief from 2010 to 2016 — resigned effective December 15, 2025, citing stress and security concerns. Before leaving, he sent a text message to Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice asking why he should "risk life and family's safety to resolve Malacañang's problems." He warned the commission needed stronger statutory subpoena powers and stronger backing from the executive and Congress.

Rossana Fajardo, a partner at SGV and Co. (EY Philippines) and the commission's forensic finance expert, submitted her resignation on December 26, effective December 31. She said the investigative work should now transition to the DOJ and Ombudsman.

With two departures and no replacement appointments from the Palace, the ICI formally acknowledged in January 2026 that it could not conduct official actions. Under EO 94, it needed a majority — two of three commissioners — to take any binding step. Reyes was alone.

Erice, a Liberal Party representative, told a House committee in February that he would characterize the ICI as "a total failure, especially considering the resignations of two of its members." The Makabayan bloc warned after Singson's exit that the investigation would only reach "minor offenders while shielding those in power."

In February, Reyes said the body "could have done more if it were intact, and will do its task of investigating and referring cases related to the flood control scandal and fighting corruption to the very end, if allowed." That phrase — "if allowed" — went unaddressed.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla — the former Justice Secretary whom Marcos appointed to the post in October 2025 — now holds the ICI's documents and referrals. The DOJ receives the same materials. The Technical Working Group for Asset Recovery continues its work, having been explicitly called on by Reyes to keep going after the commission closes.

Two replacement bodies are pending in Congress: the Independent Commission Against Infrastructure Corruption, and the Independent People's Commission. Reyes called on Congress to pass both bills. Neither has been enacted.

Reyes submitted a 1,000-page accomplishment report to Malacañang on February 6, covering the ICI's first 125 days. Concerns were raised by the Daily Tribune that this report may have been softened before any public release, though no official confirmation of that has been made.

The flood control scandal that triggered the ICI involves projects that consumed hundreds of billions of pesos across multiple administrations. The ICI produced nine referrals in six months and handed everything to the Ombudsman.

Whether Remulla's office, the DOJ, and the courts will carry that work forward — or whether the referrals become another stack of documents in another government building — is the question that the wind-down leaves open.