HIGH expectations from the public and massive protest actions against corruption held yesterday in different parts of the country put pressure on the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to do its task well and produce results, said the commission’s special adviser, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong.
Magalong, in a TV interview, said he went to the EDSA Shrine in Quezon City not as ICI adviser or city mayor but as a person who is one with the people in fighting corruption, which he has been advocating aside from good governance.
“The rally has a huge impact on the ICI because it shows that the people are listening, observing what the result of the investigations would be. This is a big challenge for us in the ICI to show results),” he said in Filipino
“We have to hit the ground running and continue to hit the ground running. ‘Yun ang pressure sa amin Napaka-taas ng expectation sa amin, napakataas ng pressure na magdeliver kami ng resulta dito (That’s the pressure for us. The expectation is high, the pressure is high for us to deliver results),” he added.
Magalong said it is imperative that someone be held liable, and for those liable to be jailed.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently formed the ICI to investigate alleged anomalous infrastructure projects in the past 10 years, starting with those on flood control.
Magalong said the ICI, created under Executive Order 94 dated September 11, already has a list of individuals for interview but declined to name names, saying he would leave the announcement to the commission.
Last Friday, the ICI interviewed former Public Works assistant district engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez in connection with the alleged anomalous flood control projects in Bulacan and his testimonies at the Senate last September 8 and in the House of Representatives on September 9, which the ICI said are part of its investigations.
