Magalong not quitting as Baguio mayor after being named ICI special adviser

Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong denied Monday that he resigned as mayor of the city following his appointment as special adviser to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure.

Magalong said being an investigator for the ICI would not affect his duties as local chief executive. 

''False claims are circulating that I have resigned as Mayor of Baguio. I have not resigned. I remain your duly elected Mayor, fully committed to serving our city,'' Magalong said in a statement. 

''While I have been appointed as Special Adviser and Investigator for the Independent Commission for Infrastructure to help look into alleged anomalies in flood control projects, this will not affect my mandate as mayor. My foremost duty and priority remain with the people of Baguio,'' he added. 

Earlier in the day, President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. explained why he picked Magalong as special adviser of the body that will look into anomalous flood control projects. 

Marcos earlier said the ICI would exclude politicians. According to the President, Magalong has since been an investigator, noting his key role in the investigation in the Mamasapano incident in 2015. 

''There have been questions as to why Mayor Benjie has been included and the answer is very simple – when I went to Baguio at tiningnan ko iyong mga malabo na flood control project ay sinalubong niya kaagad ako ng isang report. Imbestigador naman talaga si Mayor Benjie. Kung maalala ninyo, he was the one who wrote, as CIDG head, he was the one who wrote the seminal report on the Mamasapano incident and that was… immediately, that gave me… put him—that’s when I came to know of him and saw that he has integrity,'' Marcos said at a press briefing. 

(When I went to Baguio and I saw the suspicious flood control projects, he immediately presented his report to me. Mayor Benjie is really an investigator. If you remember, he was the one who wrote, as CIDG head, he was the one who wrote the seminal report on the Mamasapano incident and that was... immediately, that gave me...  put him—that’s when I came to know of him and saw that he has integrity.) 

''And then, again when I went to Baguio, mayroon na siyang—being a good investigator, he had a very, very detailed, very good report already. So, he’s been working on this for a while so marami siyang mako-contribute (he can contribute a lot),'' he added. 

Magalong had disclosed that there were lawmakers who were allegedly receiving payoffs from infrastructure projects, including flood control programs. 

He earlier said he supports efforts to investigate alleged irregularities in flood control projects. He even expressed his preference to testify first before the House of Representatives instead of the Senate.

Earlier, Magalong said the probe into anomalous flood control projects should start with Ako Bicol party-list Representative Zaldy Co, a former incorporator of the Sunwest Inc., the fifth leading flood control project contractor in the Bicol Region. Co denied the allegations made by Magalong 

To recall, It was during Magalong's stint at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group that he was tapped to be the head of the PNP Board of Inquiry to look into the Mamasapano incident where terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and 44 Special Action Force commandos, 18 rebels, and five civilians were killed.

Meanwhile, asked why he did not tap anyone from the CIDG or the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate, Marcos simply said these agencies are under the government. 

''Because NBI and all of those are part of the government, so, again there is—if there is a suspicion that maybe, in the investigation, the previous investigation ay baka tinulungan sila ng mga kasama nila sa NBI mga ganoon, these things happen (the previous investigation indicated that maybe some people from NBI helped them, these things happen),'' he said. — RSJ/AOL, GMA Integrated News