The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), the body with the gargantuan task to investigate one of the biggest corruption scandals in recent Phiippine history, is nearing the end of its work.

Its existence, however, depends on whom you ask. Ombudsman Boying Remulla said in December 2025 that it has only “a month or two” left. Senator Imee Marcos, the estranged sister of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said that ICI would be scrapped by February 1.

For ICI Chairperson Andres Reyes Jr., the commission is set to run for two years. But a few days before 2025 ended, Reyes said the ICI was wrapping up its remaining referrals to the Office of the Ombudsman.

He made the statement after becoming the sole member of the three-person commission, following the resignations of commissioners Babes Singson and Rossana Fajardo.

So what has the commission accomplished, so far, or four months since it was created in September 2025? Is their work truly done?

Accomplishments

The ICI has filed 11 referrals with the Office of the Ombudsman, including joint referrals with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Those referrals involve 100 personalities and contractors.

So far, the Ombudsman has filed two cases in court stemming from ICI and DPWH complaints. These cases have led to the arrest of some personalities, including contractor Sarah Discaya.

Working with the Anti-Money Laundering Council and other agencies, the ICI has helped freeze more than P20.3 billion in assets. The assets include thousands of bank accounts and hundreds of insurance policies, vehicles, and properties, as well as e-wallet and securities accounts, and several aircraft. (READ: What’s in Zaldy Co’s hangar? P4.7-billion worth of aircraft linked to his firms)

The freezes, however, merely restrict access to the assets. They do not automatically return the money or properties to public coffers.

Separately, the ICI secured high-value properties linked to the investigation, including a GMC vehicle and a Lamborghini surrendered by dismissed DPWH Bulacan engineer Brice Hernandez.

Misses and gaps

The ICI initially flagged 421 alleged ghost flood control projects. But a review of its complaints to the Ombudsman — including joint referrals with the DPWH — shows that only five flood control projects were actually covered so far:

• road dike in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro
• riverbank protection structure in Plaridel, Bulacan
• slope protection structure and waterways in Bocaue, Bulacan
• flood control project in La Union
• flood control project in Davao Occidental

All the projects cited so far involve flood control. Other types of infrastructure — such as roads, bridges, and public buildings — have yet to be covered.

Under its mandate, the ICI is tasked with investigating corruption in public infrastructure, not just flood control projects, over the past decade.

Earlier, ICI special adviser and former Philippine National Police chief Rodolfo Azurin said the commission would prioritize 80 projects involving the top 15 flood control contractors named by the President.

But ICI’s complaints show that while 16 contractors were cited, only three belonged to the President’s list of top 15 flood control contractors: Discayas’ St. Timothy Construction Corporation, Zaldy Co’s Sunwest Incorporated, and Topnotch Catalyst Builders Incorporated.

DPWH also initiated independent legal complaints in relation to the flood control corruption involving contractors and other flood control projects.

The ICI also identified at least eight lawmakers linked to certain construction companies, but it did not clearly state whether these firms were involved in anomalous infrastructure projects.

Rappler’s investigation, meanwhile, has shown that nearly 100 politicians and government officials — from the national and local levels — are linked to government contractors, either as owners or through relatives.

Personalities under probe

Based on Rappler’s review, at least 100 individuals were named in the ICI’s complaints. These include DPWH engineers and officials, a COA commissioner, senators and their aides, and congressmen — some of whom appear in multiple complaints.

ICI recommended criminal and/or administrative charges against almost all of these personalities.

One of the most prominent names was the President’s cousin, former House speaker Martin Romualdez. Unlike others, however, ICI merely referred Romualdez to the Ombudsman for further investigation, with the referral explicitly stating that it was issued “without any finding or conclusion of guilt or liability.”

The same treatment was given to Senator Chiz Escudero, former public works secretary and now Senator Mark Villar, former senator Grace Poe, and former senator and now Makati City Mayor Nancy Binay.

All four were named by former DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo as part of the alleged corruption scheme, but were referred only for “further investigative review.”

Lack of transparency

The ICI has also faced criticism over transparency. After the congressional investigation into flood control projects stalled, public attention shifted to the commission, prompting calls for it to livestream its hearings.

Initially, the ICI resisted, citing concerns over “trial by publicity,” but it later relented. Still, once guidelines were set, most of those invited to appear before the commission avoided public scrutiny by invoking executive sessions.

Among those who faced the commission and invoked an executive session was the President’s son, House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos.

What comes next?

Former ICI commissioner Singson has openly acknowledged that the commission lacked the powers and resources needed to fulfill its mandate, and likened the ICI to an armless soldier sent to battle.

“Walang budget. Kumbaga lumaban ka sa giyera. Solve-in mo ’yung problema, hindi ka naman binigyan ng armas. Ano nangyari sa ’yo? Eh di nakatiwangwang ka. You cannot defend yourself,” he said.

(There’s no budget. It’s like you’re sent to fight in a war. Solve the problem, but you weren’t given any arms. What happens to you? You can’t do anything. You cannot defend yourself.)

The Department of Budget and Management only approved a P41.4-million budget for the ICI in early November 2025, nearly two months after its creation. Reyes has also said that some members of the commission’s legal team were working as volunteers.

Based on Marcos’ executive order, the ICI ceases to exist once it completes its mandate, unless the President dissolves it sooner. Given the magnitude of the corruption and what has been done, ICI’s work seems to be far from over.

Yet the ICI is now operating with only one commissioner. The appointment of new commissioners rests with Marcos, as does the decision on whether the body survives or is dissolved.

Asked about the fate of the ICI at a Palace briefing on Tuesday, January 13, Palace press officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said, “At this time, the President has not issued any new directives, other than for them to continue carrying out their mandate, to keep pursuing their investigation, and to remain a fact-finding committee.”

A bill pending in Congress seeks to create a new body that would institutionalize — and expand — the work of the ICI. Marcos asked lawmakers to pass it immediately.

The question now is whether the proposed Independent People’s Commission — if created — will finally have enough teeth to uncover the depth and breadth of infrastructure corruption that has plagued the country for decades. – Vicensa Nonato/Rappler.com

Vicensa Nonato is a Rappler intern. She is a journalism student at the University of the Philippines Diliman.