Former Supreme Court Justice Andres Reyes Jr. is now the lone commissioner of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) following the resignation of Rossana Fajardo, further decimating the body created by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to investigate alleged anomalies in flood control and other infrastructure projects.

Fajardo, country managing partner of SGV & Co., said she will step down effective 31 December, becoming the second commissioner to exit the ad hoc panel. Her departure follows that of former Public Works Secretary Rogelio “Babes” Singson who resigned earlier citing “very intense and stressful ICI work” and flagging the commission’s lack of funding and limited authority.

With Fajardo’s resignation, Reyes remains as chair and only member, supported by the ICI’s staff, including Executive Director Brian Hosaka and Special Adviser Rodolfo Azurin, a retired police general.

The attrition has reinforced criticism that the commission, established through an executive order, was structurally weak from the outset. Political pundits have maintained it was intended to cover up the involvement in the scandal of people close to President Marcos, if not Marcos himself.

Also on Friday, House minority lawmakers declared the ICI a “lost cause,” saying its unraveling exposed what they called the Marcos administration’s hollow anti-corruption drive.

“Its members have resigned, it has no real transparency, and its credibility is always in question. It was created to make it appear that Marcos was serious about investigating corruption,” the Makabayan bloc said.

Senior Minority Leader Edgar Erice said the resignations showed that “something is fundamentally wrong,” asking, “What happens now to what may be the greatest heist in government infrastructure and the national budget?”

To Akbayan Partylist Rep. Chel Diokno, “The problem is clear: the ICI truly lacks the power and mandate.”

Expelled representative Elizaldy Co has claimed he delivered billions of pesos in kickbacks to Marcos and his cousin, former speaker Martin Romualdez, from flood control projects, including substandard and non-existent ones.

“This can very well be the end of the ICI. We should have formed the ICAIC by now,” said Mamamayang Liberal Partylist Rep. Leila de Lima, referring to the proposed Independent Commission Against Infrastructure Corruption, a permanent body with prosecutorial powers.

In her resignation statement, Fajardo said she had completed her mandate.

“Since my appointment in September 2025, I have been committed to advancing the Commission’s objectives, particularly in the areas of financial oversight and infrastructure project investigations,” she said.

She said her work included evidence-gathering frameworks, detailed work plans, and the supervision of investigations, resulting in recommendations to improve procurement and budgeting processes.

Time-bound

Fajardo added that she believes accountability efforts should now transition to agencies “better positioned to ensure accountability,” including the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Reyes said Fajardo’s resignation came “at a natural point in the commission’s work,” stressing that the ICI was created with a time-bound mandate to establish facts and recommend corrective measures.

The commission has filed eight referrals involving nearly 100 individuals, including lawmakers, former and current Department of Public Works and Highways officials, contractors, and a sitting Commission on Audit official.

Three cases filed by the Ombudsman have led to the arrest of 16 individuals, including contractor Sarah Discaya, for non-bailable offenses. The ICI has also coordinated with the Anti-Money Laundering Council to freeze about P20.3 billion in assets linked to the scandal.

Reyes said the commission is now focused on completing its remaining submissions to the Ombudsman. “The commission remains fully committed to submitting all its final recommendations.”

The Department of Justice said it trusts the ICI to continue fulfilling its mandate and welcomed proposals to create a more permanent commission to assist in investigating infrastructure corruption cases.

Malacañang, meanwhile, defended the pace of the investigation. Presidential Communications Office Acting Secretary Dave Gomez said President Marcos’s unmet Christmas deadline for arrests was only one component of a broader accountability drive.

“The flood control investigation does not end on 25 December. It’s only been a little over four months,” said Gomez, citing the detention of contractor couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya as proof of progress.

Critics, however, have argued that the steady departure of commissioners underscored the limits of a commission created outside existing accountability institutions, raising questions about whether the ICI was ever designed to deliver consequences commensurate with the scale of the scandal it was intended to confront.