The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) was created to “legitimize” the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s narrative on corruption, Vice President Sara Duterte said on Saturday.

Talking to reporters in Manaoag, Pangasinan, Duterte gave her assessment of the ICI investigations, expressing skepticism about the probe body whose functions, she said, could be undertaken by the Office of the President, including “case buildups” on the corruption in flood control projects.

Executive Order 94 created the ICI to investigate corruption in all government projects, including flood mitigation, over the past years.

“Why does the ICI conduct investigations? The Office of the President has billions in confidential funds to do a case buildup,” she said.

The three-member body, composed of a chairperson and two members, has invited individuals implicated in the flood control projects corruption scandal. Several government agencies have met with the commission regarding the anomalies.

ICI Executive Director Brian Hosaka said that while the hearings of the ICI are currently not being livestreamed, the commission is aware of public demands to make them available online.

Hosaka said the “ICI is avoiding a trial by publicity, and will not allow it to be used for any political leverage or agenda by any individual or group.”

Duterte, however, said the administration created the ICI “so its report, whatever it will say, will be the official narrative on the corruption that happened.”

Romualdez to undergo ‘medical procedure’

Meanwhile, former speaker Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez has sought the postponement of his 22 October hearing on the flood control scandal due to a medical procedure that he will undergo, the ICI said on Saturday.

An ICI statement said the commission will issue an advisory “once a date for the next hearing has been determined.”

Hosaka said the ICI asked Romualdez about the allegations that he took kickbacks from infrastructure projects, which he denied.

“I have nothing to hide and nothing should be hidden. I came here to help reveal the truth,” Romualdez reportedly told the ICI panel.

Romualdez stepped down as speaker on 17 September after he was linked to the multibillion-peso flood control corruption controversy. He said his conscience was clear but he resigned to allow the ICI to pursue its investigation freely.

He also said he is willing to release his SALN. “I will do so at the insistence of the commission,” he said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. created the ICI to investigate the corruption in flood-control and other infrastructure projects. The panel can issue subpoenas but does not have the power to cite people in contempt.