A representative from the United States embassy met yesterday with members of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) in a closed-door session to discuss the committee’s ongoing work on corruption investigations in infrastructure projects.
ICI chairperson Andres Reyes Jr. and member Rogelio Singson personally welcomed Michael Keheller, the embassy’s acting deputy chief of mission.
Keheller is the first diplomat to visit the ICI since its formation last month.
ICI executive director Brian Keith Hosaka said the meeting served as an opportunity to explain the fact-finding body’s role in probing multibillion-peso irregularities in flood control and other government infrastructure projects.
“As one of the countries of great interest in the Philippines, [the US] was very much interested in what the ICI would do to address the problem of the flood control projects and other anomalous infrastructure projects,” Hosaka said.
“Basically, he wanted to know what we have done, what we will be doing, and what we expect from the ICI,” he added.
Hosaka clarified that while the US embassy expressed interest in the commission’s work, it has not yet offered any form of assistance.
“They haven’t reached that kind of offering yet,” he said.
The visit came shortly after the US State Department released its investment climate report on Sept. 26, flagging the Bureau of Customs as “one of the most corrupt agencies in the country” following reports of companies being asked for bribes.
The report did not yet account for the billions of pesos allegedly lost to anomalous flood control and infrastructure projects, which the ICI is currently investigating.
