Senior Deputy Minority Leader Caloocan City 2nd district Rep. Edgar Erice is up in arms over the Marcos administration's gross mishandling of the investigation on anomalous flood control projects.

This, as Erice joined his House colleagues in expressing their frustration over what the Palace-created Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) had been reduced to.

“There is definitely something wrong when three of the most credible members of the commission— [Bong] Magalong, [Babes] Singson, and now [Rossana] Fajardo—have all resigned,” Erice said.

“What happens now to what may be the greatest heist in government infrastructure and the national budget?” he asked, referring to the flood control projects corruption scandal that the body had been investigating since mid-September.

Magalong served as ICI special investigator, while Singson and Fajardo were two of three commissioners of the body. Now, only Chairman Andres Reyes Jr. remains with the commission, which is "effectively dead" according to Erice.

Amid these departures, Erice cited the absence of adequate funding, personnel, and enforcement authority from the body.

The veteran solon further noted that key figures linked to the alleged infrastructure and budget insertions are either gone or silent.

Former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Cathy Cabral, whom Erice described as the repository of information on insertion proponents, is now dead.

Former Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co has gone silent, while former DPWH secretary Manuel Bonoan is reportedly out of the country.

Errice noted that Cabinet members allegedly implicated in the flood control projects mess were never investigated; and the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, chaired by Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson, appeared no longer interested in pursuing the matter.

Meanwhile, the President Marcos' promise to jail powerful politicians “before Christmas” remains unfulfilled.

“Does the President truly mean what he is saying?...President Marcos owes the Filipino people a clear and honest explanation of what is happening to his presidency,” Erice said.

He added that even official statements from Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro appeared riddled with inconsistencies and evasions.

Erice also raised concerns over declining business confidence, aggravated by the freezing of bank accounts of legitimate businesses—such as security and travel agencies, leasing companies, and suppliers—that merely transacted with flood-control contractors, despite having no involvement in any alleged irregularities.