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(1st UPDATE) The announcement of the ICI chairperson completes the composition of the fact-finding body
MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has named Andres B. Reyes, Jr., a former member of the Supreme Court, as chairperson of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) that will investigate flood control and other infrastructure projects in the last 10 years.
Marcos made the announcement on Monday, September 15.
“All of them are in agreement that we have to move very quickly. Hindi pwedeng mapanis lahat itong information na binigay ng taumbayan sa Isumbong mo sa Pangulo (We cannot let the information submitted to us go to waste),” said Marcos, referring to his conversation with his hand-picked commission members and a website the executive launched to list down flood control projects in the country.
Marcos also noted that the three-man commission is set to meet on September 15 to determine their processes. They have also agreed to meet daily, said Marcos, who described the commission’s work as a “turning point in the conduct of governance.”
“We have to make a change, and it is a fundamental change in the way that we do business,” he added.
Marcos also said he did not give the task of probing flood control and infrastructure projects to existing agencies such as the National Bureau of Investigation or the Philippine National Police because they were part of the government, too.
Marcos, in the press conference, explained that he would have no say in the processes of the commission and its staff.
Reyes was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2017 by former president Rodrigo Duterte. He was a career judiciary public servant, starting out as a judge in 1987 and moving up to become presiding justice of the Court of Appeals, before his last role as a Supreme Court justice.
In the Supreme Court, Reyes consistently voted in favor of Duterte-interest cases. He dissented in the controversial flip-flop decision that handed Philippine Airlines a win in its labor retrenchment case, a petition that was resurrected through a letter by the late Estelito Mendoza.
When Reyes retired, he highlighted as his achievement his ability to dispose of the cases assigned to him. Overflowing caseload is a perennial problem of the Supreme Court.
“I thought that the best way that I can contribute to the court was to try to finish all the cases that was assigned to me. Thus I went to great lengths to reduce my caseload. I’m happy to state that I decided more cases than what was assigned and raffled to me,” he said in his retirement ceremony in 2020 during the pandemic.
Reyes’ family owns the popular Aristocrat restaurant.
Malacañang announced the appointment of ICI members Rogelio “Babes” Singson and accountant Rossana Fajardo, and ICI special adviser and investigator Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong on Saturday.
Marcos signed Executive Order 94 on Thursday, September 11, forming the ICI. – Rappler.com