Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro once again clarified that Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong "voluntarily" resigned as special adviser of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).

Hoping to put an end to the issue concerning Magalong's exit from the ICI, Castro stressed that she had nothing to do with the mayor's resignation from the commission tasked to probe infrastructure anomalies.

She pointed out that Magalong's decision to step down was beyond her control.

"[T]his will be my last time to answer these issues. Unang-una po, hindi ko po saklaw ang kanyang damdamin. Siya po ang boluntaryong nag-resign, hindi naman po siya pinagri-resign. Kung iyon po ang kaniyang naging desisyon, hindi ko rin po saklaw ang kanyang pagdidesisyon (First of all, I have no control over his feelings. He voluntarily resigned; he was not asked to do so. If that was his decision, I also have no control over it)," Castro said in a Palace briefing on Thursday, Oct. 9.

Castro's statement came after Magalong said he resigned as a special adviser to the ICI following the remarks of Castro, which, he said, implied that he did not have the right to investigate.

The Palace press officer reiterated that she was merely stating President Marcos' pronouncement about Magalong's role in the ICI, adding that nobody ordered her to issue the remarks against him.

"Sinabi po niya na wala raw siyang karapatang mag-imbestiga – unang-una po, iba po kasi ang pag-presume at iba naman po iyong naging pronouncement ng ating Pangulo. September 15 sinabi po ng Pangulo na siya po ay special adviser (He said that he had no authority to investigate—but first of all, presuming is different from what the President actually declared. On September 15, the President said that he was a special adviser)," Castro said.

"Ang sinabi lamang po ni Mayor Magalong ay he just presumed that he is an investigator. Maaaring ganoon ang mangyayari kung siya po ay nag-resign bilang mayor. Pero ang Pangulo na nga rin po ang nagsabi na pinili niya pong mag-stay at manatiling mayor ng Baguio City (What Mayor Magalong said was that he merely presumed he was an investigator. That could have been the case if he had resigned as mayor. But the President himself said that Magalong chose to stay on and continue serving as mayor of Baguio City)," Castro added.

Castro also challenged Magalong to show the official paper, designating him as an investigator.

She also dared the mayor to show proof that someone, aside from the President, ordered her to issue the statement against him.

Castro further appealed to avoid "creating intrigues," especially involving the President.

"Ang Pangulo po ay sumusunod lamang sa batas, hindi po natin puwedeng i-please lahat ng tao sa kagustuhan nila pero ang maaapektuhan naman po ay ang batas at ang pronouncement ng Pangulo (The President is simply following the law. We cannot please everyone according to their wishes if it means compromising the law and the President’s pronouncements)," she said.  

"Sana matapos na po ang isyu na ito dito at wala na po sanang paulit-ulit na isyu na ganito (Hopefully, this issue ends here and will not be brought up again)," she added.