Malacañang on Friday clarified that the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) has received its P41 million budget for 2025, amid questions about funding for the newly established investigating body.

Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) approved the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) for the ICI’s initial funding in September.

“According to the DBM, the SARO for the budget was approved as early as September,” Castro told reporters during a Palace briefing.

She acknowledged there were delays in the budget’s implementation due to adjustments in the Modified Disbursement System, but confirmed that the funds are now available to the ICI.

“The only unusual thing, perhaps, was a slight delay in the implementation and in the modified disbursement system. But now, we can say that the funds are already with them,” she said.

The funding issue was previously raised by Rogelio “Babes” Singson, who recently resigned from the ICI. Singson criticized the commission for operating with inadequate funds and limited legal authority after its creation in September by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. through Executive Order 94.

“Unfortunately, ICI was created, I would imagine, as an urgent matter, with an insufficient budget. There was no budget with us. The budget was only mentioned in the newspapers. That was the situation,” Singson lamented.

The ICI was established as a non-partisan fact-finding body tasked with investigating alleged irregularities in flood control and other infrastructure projects over the past 10 years.

Castro earlier noted that the Office of the President approved the P41 million budget in November, along with 172 open positions to support the commission’s operations. 

She also noted that all agencies tasked with investigating corruption should be properly empowered to do so.

“All institutions that have the authority to investigate should be strong and have the necessary powers,” Castro said.

She further clarified that the ICI was created as a fact-finding body, designed to gather concrete evidence on irregularities and ghost projects in flood control.

“The ICI is an independent commission established under EO 94. Its purpose is to conduct fact-finding, not to impose penalties on those who fail to attend,” Castro explained.

She added that the commission’s role is to focus on investigating, gathering documents, facts, and data to assist the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice. “That is the primary purpose of the ICI,” she emphasized.