DECEMBER 26, 2025 — Commissioner Rossana Fajardo has stepped down from the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), effective December 31, 2025, leaving the body with only three members as it continues to grapple with high-profile corruption probes.

“I have completed the work I set out to accomplish when I was appointed, ensuring that the foundational goals of the Commission have been met,” Fajardo said in a statement released December 26.

During her tenure, Fajardo focused on tightening financial oversight and advancing investigations into questionable infrastructure projects. She highlighted her role in developing evidence-gathering methods, supervising volunteer investigators, and crafting recommendations to improve government procurement and budgeting.

Fajardo stressed that prosecutorial duties should now fall to agencies with permanent mandates, such as the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman. She also pointed to pending bills that would establish the Independent Commission Against Infrastructure Corruption and the Independent People’s Commission, which she said would be better equipped to pursue cases against erring contractors and officials.

“It has been a profound honor to serve alongside individuals deeply committed to transparency and accountability, who have dedicated themselves selflessly to the Filipino people,” she added.

Her departure marks the third resignation from the ICI in just over three months, following former Baguio mayor Benjamin Magalong and commissioner Rogelio Singson. The commission, created in September, now relies on Chairman Andres Reyes Jr., Special Adviser Rodolfo Azurin Jr., and Executive Director Brian Keith Hosaka to carry its mandate forward.

The timing of Fajardo’s resignation comes as the Marcos administration faces mounting criticism over its handling of the multi-billion-peso flood control scandal. Despite the president’s vow that those involved would be jailed before Christmas, only contractor Sarah Discaya and several Department of Public Works and Highways officials have been arrested so far.

The thinning ranks of the ICI raise questions about the government’s ability to sustain momentum in tackling corruption in infrastructure projects. For many Filipinos, the issue cuts deep: billions of pesos lost to anomalous contracts mean delayed flood control, unfinished roads, and compromised public safety.

The public’s frustration is palpable.

Right now, the fight against corruption in infrastructure is no longer just about ghost and substandard projects. It is also about trust, justice, accountability, and whether Filipinos still believe promises of reform.

Will the culprits truly be held accountable, or will this issue slowly fade into oblivion, like many others before it, especially when the next big scandal rocks the nation?

(Image: LinkedIn)