Members of the House of Representatives were crushed Wednesday, Dec. 3 to learn that Rogelio "Babes" Singson had resigned as a commissioner of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).

Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said Singson's decision to walk away from ICI--which since September had been acting as special investigator on the flood control projects corruption scandal--was "highly regrettable".

"This is a major blow to our efforts to push for a truly independent, transparent, and comprehensive probe into the anomalous flood control and other government infrastructure projects," De Lima said.

"Isa si Sec. Babes sa talagang maaasahan at mapagkakatiwalaan natin pagdating sa paglaban sa korapsyon, na pinatunayan na niya sa pamumuno sa DPWH noon (Sec. Babes is one of those who we can truly rely on and trust when it comes to fighting corruption, and he has shown this during his days as Department of Public Works and Highways chief)," said the deputy minority leader.

De Lima reckoned: "With this development, it is all the more important that we pass the ICAIC (Independent Commission Against Infrastructure Corruption) Law. Sa dami at lawak ng dapat nitong imbestigahan, baka pulutin sa kangkungan ang ICI kung hindi ito palalakasin ng batas (The ICI might fall by the wayside due to the sheer number and scope of the cases it needs to investigate)."

Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña was similarly affected by Singson's resignation. "Singson's exit from the [ICI] is a huge setback to the office's mission to ferret out the truth and run after the perpetrators of this gargantuan corruption scandal," he said.

Looking back, Cendaña said Singson's inclusion in the ICI "ensured impartiality and credibility given the former's reputation as an honest public servant and competent head of the DPWH".

"His departure from the ICI only adds further questions and doubts regarding the body's capacity to hold erring powerful politicians, bureaucrats and contractors to account. It cannot be overstated that the ICI would be hard pressed to find a replacement with the level of decade-long expertise and unblemished public service record similar to that of Sec. Singson," said "Mader Perci".

The assistant minority further claimed that the people's patience with the Marcos administration was "wearing thin" as far as demands for accountability in the flood control projects mess was concerned.

A member of the majority bloc, Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon described Singson's exit from the ICI as "a serious setback to its fact-finding work", particularly since the latter "had insider access, institutional memory, and deep understanding of the goings-on in the DPWH".

"The President should appoint a replacement with the same level of expertise and integrity as Sec. Singson, as domain knowledge on infrastructure planning, budgeting, and implementation is indispensable to the ICI’s mandate," Ridon said.

Meanwhile, another deputy minority leader, ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, said that Singson raises serious questions about the credibility and effectiveness of the very body tasked to investigate the flood control projects issue.

"Paano magiging credible ang imbestigasyon kung ang mga miyembro sa investigative body ay sumusuko na? (How can the investigation be credible if the members of the investigative body are giving up?)" asked Tinio.

"This development exposes the hollowness of Malacañang's claim that it is nearing the endgame in its anti-corruption drive," noted the Makabayan solon.

"Singson's departure comes at a critical time when the ICI should be investigating the explosive allegations of former Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co involving P56 billion in systematic kickbacks and DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo's admission of delivering P8.2 billion as standard operating procedure. Instead of pursuing these leads, the ICI's leadership is now in disarray," he further said.