No talks yet on abolishing ICI, says Castro

MANILA, Philippines — There are no discussions yet regarding the abolishment of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said on Friday.

These remarks came after Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla said in an earlier interview that the super body may have only a month or two left before it concludes its investigation into anomalous infrastructure projects.

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“Right now, I can’t answer that, and we haven’t discussed it yet,” she said, referring to the former Justice chief’s statement. 

“But since the Ombudsman is also there and they are very active regarding the issue of anomalous flood control projects, it could be like that. But as of now, we don’t have any details or any updates regarding that,” Castro continued.

During an Unang Balita interview, Remulla said the ICI will turn over its referrals to the Office of the Ombudsman once it stops its probe.

“I think some of them, it’s only two months away and they can turn over their jobs to us,” Remulla said in an interview on Unang Balita.

“‘That’s the direction, because the ICI is not forever, and there is a law that created the Office of the Ombudsman, which we are now very active in,” he also said. /mr