Incredible

The credibility of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) now hangs by a thread.

- ALEX MAGNO

Earlier this week, Rogelio Singson resigned from the three-man Commission effective Dec. 15, mumbling something about being old and tired. In the days subsequent, however, he began making “suggestions” about how the work of the ICI might be improved. This includes expanding its powers and beginning its investigation with the “big fish.”

He was making it obvious, without explicitly saying it, that he did not find work in the commission worth his while. After announcing his resignation, he volunteered to work for the DPWH in completing the flood master plan.

Singson’s presence in the ICI was invaluable. As a former secretary of the DPWH, he was most conversant on the work of the agency and the department's institutional weaknesses. His sterling record in both government service and the private sector made the ICI believable.

Now that he has resigned, the BBM administration will be hard-pressed to shore up public faith in the ICI. A replacement with the same credibility needs to be found. Quickly.

To be sure, public faith in the ICI was never strong to begin with. The Commission lacked subpoena powers. It took time to assemble a staff to support its work. A creation of the President, it had no security of tenure.

Because of its many perceived weaknesses, some legislators put forward a bill reestablishing the ICI as an agency created by law and enjoying broader powers than whatever is wielded by the current body. That bill has largely been ignored by the administration and seems destined to rot on the shelf.