Singson pleads: Pass bill giving ICI more teeth

“What we wanted to convey is that ICI, as it is today, does not have enough powers to be able to execute as quickly as we can what we need to do,” Singson said.

“That’s why I am appealing to members of Congress, both the House and the Senate: pass the (legislation on) IPC or Independent People’s Commission at the Senate level and the ICAIC (Independent Commission Against Infrastructure Corruption), which is the lower House version,” he said. Singson’s resignation takes effect on Dec.15.

He also told “Storycon” on One News that the ICI’s P41-million budget “is in the newspapers, not with us.”

Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima told One News’s “The Big Story” that Singson had been following up on the status of the ICI bill in Congress.

“He told me, ‘We really need more powers because of the sheer volume of cases, matters and referrals we’ve been getting,’” De Lima said on Wednesday night. “They’re getting impatient already.”

A House panel has already approved the creation of the ICAIC while the Senate has already sponsored a bill establishing the IPC. But neither bill has been certified as urgent by the President.

Both chambers will have their last session day on Dec. 19, after which they will adjourn and resume on Jan. 19, 2026.

Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, for his part, said the resignation Singson underscored the urgent need for the immediate passage of the ICAIC bill.

“While we value Sec. Babes’ expertise, we understand if he wants to prioritize his health, and the safety and well-being of his family,” Tiangco said in a statement.

“But this resignation showed that despite the many and huge projects that has to be investigated, there is a need to strengthen the mandate of the ICI,” he added.

Singson said he is still hopeful Congress will act favorably on the measure.

“They committed that they will pass it before the end of the year, so hopefully, by the end of the year, you will now have a much stronger independent commission with proper powers and authorities that ICI does not have,” Singson said.

“The burden of this problem cannot rely solely on ICI. We need strong support from the Office of the President and from both houses of Congress. Otherwise, on its own, without the necessary powers, unfortunately, it will not move as fast as we want to,” he added.

No budget this year

He also lamented that P41-million funding for ICC for this year has not been downloaded until now, and that it had to borrow office equipment like printers from the private sector.

The Department of Budget and Management set aside an operational budget of P41,480,000 for the ICI until year-end, coming from the Office of the President’s contingent fund. It also greenlit the opening of 172 contractual positions, ranging from lawyers and engineers to support staff.

But with less than a month to go before the New Year, the budget remains on paper, according to Singson.

“Until now, the people here are still volunteers,” Singson told One PH’s “One Balita Pilipinas” yesterday. “I could not even bring in a staff because you would get them from the private sector and they’d be unpaid.”

“How can we work with a few computers? So we bring our own (laptops),” the commissioner said, adding, “I have to ask friends from the private sector to lend us printers. You won’t believe it.”

Singson also clarified that when he told Caloocan Rep. Egay Erice that the ICI has become a “punching bag” and a deodorizer of Malacañang, he meant the commission remains powerless to compel witnesses to the point that the public blames it for the snail-paced corruption probe.

“We were absorbing a lot of the flak for something we have no power to do,” Singson said yesterday.

“People say we should jail the corrupt, but we have no power to do it. Everyone blames the ICI for being slow, for supposedly protecting the big fish. All kinds of accusations have been thrown against us,” the resigned ICI commissioner lamented.

Singson’s “aging body,” according to ICI chairperson Andres Reyes Jr., forced the former public works chief to step down.

But his colleagues said Singson’s frustration was mounting over the lack of direction the ICI was taking.

Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who stepped down as ICI special adviser late September, said he learned of his former colleague’s plans last month.

“He filed his resignation in November, but he extended it until Dec. 15,” Magalong told radio dzMM yesterday.

The commission’s work, the mayor said, has eaten up so much “quality time” from Singson’s family. “You will also feel that you don’t have enough authority,” he added.

Singson said he just stuck to his internal timeline of three months, and that the only people who managed to pressure him into letting go of his ICI role were his wife and children. “They said, ‘If you want to nail yourself on the cross, don’t drag us anymore,’” he said.

ICI not affected

For Malacañang, Singson’s resignation has not made a dent on ICI’s credibility. “The ICI Still has several competent personnel. It will not be affected,” Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro told radio station dzMM.

Castro said there are efforts to make it appear that the ICI is no longer credible because of Singson’s resignation so the public would have a negative view of the investigating body.

She stressed the Palace respects Singson’s decision to quit for health reasons.

“The job of the ICI is really difficult. They meet everyday, they hold hearings, they have to read voluminous documents. The job of the ICI is not a joke,” the Palace press officer said.

With Singson’s resignation, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he hopes President Marcos will certify as urgent a Senate bill seeking a stronger investigative body.

He said he hopes the Senate would be able to pass the bill on second reading before yearend or during the Christmas break.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, chairman of the Senate justice committee, said passing the IPC bill on third reading before the break would only be possible if certified as urgent by Malacañang. “Obviously they need more teeth. They need more sweeping powers to do their job. The controversial cases and scandals they are investigating are no joke. The IPC will give them the support that they need to be able to do the job right,” Pangilinan said.

Senators, however, dispelled the notion that the ICI is dead with Singson’s resignation.

The bill got the support of at least 16 senators, who signed the committee report.

According to the bill, the IPC would be tasked “to investigate anomalies, document, and recommend measures to address corruption, mismanagement, and negligence in the planning, procurement and implementation of public infrastructure projects.”

Meanwhile, militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said Singson’s resignation was an indication that the Marcos administration was not doing enough to stop corruption.

“What justice can people expect from the Commission that was created by the king of corruption, created to save himself,” KMU said.

— EJ Macababbad, Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Alexis Romero, Mayen Alquitran, Jose Rodel Clapano, Artemio Dumlao