The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) will assess the testimony of resource persons at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and the disclosure made by former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co regarding the flood control scandal involving top government officials and private contractors.
“The commission is still carefully reviewing and studying what was divulged during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee as well as in the alleged video of former Cong. Zaldy Co, before weighing in on any action or statement,” said ICI Executive Director Brian Keith Hosaka in a statement.
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo reappeared in the Senate panel and detailed the alleged involvement of several public officials and lawmakers in the kickback schemes tied to flood control and infrastructure projects.
Among those mentioned by Bernardo were Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Mark Villar, and Francis Escudero, and former senators Nancy Binay, Ramon Revilla Jr., Grace Poe, and former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan.
Responding to this fresh allegations Binay said: “Tahimik na po tayong nagtatrabaho bilang Mayor ng Makati, at uulitin ko po: Wala po akong kinalaman, ni anumang papel, sa anumang proyekto sa flood control, at wala po akong empleyado sa senado na kayang gawin ang ibinabato sa akin.”
(We are working quietly as Mayor of Makati, and I repeat: I have nothing to do with nor have any role in any flood control projects, and I did not have an employee, who could do what was being thrown against me.)
“I will not allow lies such as this to distract my focus in serving the people of Makati,” she added.
Meanwhile, Co broke his silence and claimed President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. was responsible for the controversial “insertions” in the 2025 national budget.
In a video statement shared on social media, Co explained that he had left the country for a medical procedure and intended to return following Marcos’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28, 2025.
He said he could not understand why President Marcos would say that he did not recognize the 2025 national budget when it was he who allegedly ordered Department of Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman to insert some items in the approved budget.
Marcos had formed the ICI to probe anomalies related to the flood control and other state-funded infrastructure projects.
The ICI is the sixth government body to conduct parallel investigations into the flood infrastructure deals mess, following separate efforts by the Commission on Audit, the Ombudsman, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.
The president stated that the ICI will serve as an investigative arm and submit recommendations to the government on whether cases should be pursued before the Department of Justice or the Ombudsman.
