Erice calls ICI ‘completion’ claim 'insincere,' misleading

Caloocan City 2nd District Rep. Edgar Erice on Tuesday sharply criticized President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for declaring that the work of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure has been completed.

Erice, who serves as senior deputy minority leader, described the statement as “the height of insincerity” and “an insult to the intelligence of the Filipino much less misleading.”

The lawmaker said that not even 10 percent of the ICI’s mandated work has been meaningfully accomplished.

Under President Marcos’ executive order, the ICI was tasked to investigate tens of thousands of infrastructure projects from 2016 to 2024, examine how weaknesses in the national budget process enabled large-scale misuse of public funds, and recommend reforms to prevent similar abuses.

Erice said the commission failed to meet its mandate, citing the resignation of key members, the ICI’s admission before Congress that it lacked sufficient resources and authority, and its failure to investigate what he described as the most crucial personalities allegedly involved in the budget controversy.

He warned that any report produced under such conditions would lack credibility and public trust.

Erice also raised concern that the administration appears inclined to pass responsibility to existing institutions instead of supporting the creation of a truly independent commission through Congress, one with full authority, adequate resources, and members of unquestionable integrity.

The lawmaker said Filipinos deserve the truth and that the only honorable path forward is transparency, accountability, and genuine reform—“not premature declarations that an unfinished and compromised process is already ‘completed.’”

He urged the public to remain vigilant and continue demanding truth and justice, saying meaningful political reforms remain the only lasting legacy that can still be delivered before the end of the current administration.