ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider ICI bent on restitution of stolen funds; holds asset recovery meeting

ICI bent on restitution of stolen funds; holds asset recovery meeting

Published Oct 30, 2025 01:15 pm

At A Glance

  • The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) is doubling down on its intention to pursue restitution against individuals who pillaged public coffers through the flood control projects corruption scandal.
ICI headquarters (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)
ICI headquarters (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)


The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) is doubling down on its intention to pursue restitution against individuals who pillaged public coffers through the flood control projects corruption scandal.
The ICI held on Thursday, Oct. 30 its Asset Recovery Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting, which was attended by heads of several key agencies. The meeting was closed to the public.
But in the shared speech of ICI Chairman Andres Reyes Jr. during the meeting, he underscored the need to recover the stolen public funds.
"The purpose of our meeting today is to discuss and finalise the framework for inter-agency coordination, information sharing, and legal procedures related to the recovery of publc funds and assets from irregular and anomalous infrastructure projects," Reyes said.
"Alam natin na bawat pisong ninakaw ay pisong nawala sa serbisyo para sa tao. Kaya’t mahalaga po na sama-sama tayong kikilos at magtutulungan para maibalik ang perang pag-aari ng publiko," stressed the retired Supreme Court (SC) associate justice.
(We know that every peso stolen is a peso lost from services meant for the people. That’s why it’s important that we act together and help one another to recover the money that rightfully belongs to the public.)
Attending the meeting were representatives from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Bureau of Customs (BOC), Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Transportation (DOTr), and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Also taking part in the event were personalities from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Insurance Commission (IC), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, in a chance interview with reporters said, "Basta kaming lahat dito, klaro sa amin ang direktiba ng Pangulo natin na kailangang bilisan ang pagbabalik ng pera ng mga kababayan natin, kaparte doon sa pagpapakulong na alam ko ginagawa na rin yan ng Office of the Ombudsman na pabilisin din,"
(For all of us here, the President’s directive is clear—we need to speed up the return of our people’s money, along with the imprisonment process, which I know the Office of the Ombudsman is also working to expedite.)
Tens, in not hundreds of billions of pesos have been lost in the form of kickbacks to lawmakers and contractors because of these anomalous or "ghost" flood mitigation projects.
Based at Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig, the ICI began its hearings on the controversy last Sept. 19. It has since gathered the testimonies of senators, congressmen, contractors, and DPWH officials in its quest to for accountability on the flood control projects mess.
According to Reyes, the TWG "will also outline operational guidelines, timelines, and priority actions to fully support national asset recovery and accountability initiatives".
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.