Ombudsman Remulla: ICI may have a month or two more to conduct probe on flood control projects
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said that the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) might only have a month or two left before stopping its operations and handing over its findings and recommendations to his office.
During an interview with GMA's "Unang Balita" on Friday morning, Dec. 5, Remulla said that the ICI was not meant to last "forever" despite the enormous task it has to face.
President Marcos created the ICI through Executive Order (EO) No. 94 issued last Sept. 11. It was tasked to investigate flood control and other infrastructure projects of the government for the past 10 years.
The ICI is headed by retired Supreme Court associate justice Andres B. Reyes Jr. It has submitted several reports and recommendations to the Office of the Ombudsman.
"Tingin ko mga isa o dalawang buwan na lang 'yang ICI, at maaari nang i-turnover sa amin lahat ng kanilang tinrabaho. Makakatulong yan sa aming gawain sapagkat iyong kanilang pag-aapura at pagtitingin sa mga ebidensya ay makakatulong sa amin ng mahigit, (I think it's only a month or two for ICI, and they can turn over all their work to us. That will help our work because their scrutiny of the evidence will help us more,"said Remulla.
He pointed out that the Ombudsman has been "very active" in handling flood control cases, and the Office of the Ombudsman is even planning to hire new lawyers who will inherit all the workload they are currently on top of.
Remulla’s statements came after former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Rogelio Singson resigned from the ICI, citing the "very intense and stressful ICI work."
He said that Singson had already bared his plan to resign earlier, and he understood Singson's decision as the latter still has many personal things to attend to.