ICI granted P41M budget for 2025

The Office of the President has approved a P41 million budget for 2025 and 172 open positions for the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI).

During a press conference on Wednesday, ICI Executive Director Attorney Brian Hosaka welcomed the approval and said that it was needed to effectively deliver their department’s mandate.

“The approved budget up to the end of 2025 is P41,481,000. This is chargeable to the contingent fund… [The Office of the President also] issued a favorable consideration for the creation of 172 contractual positions within the ICI, these approvals will definitely enable to commission to now efficiently and effectively carry out its mandates and core functions under Executive Order 94,” Hosaka shared.

The provided budget will be used to cover ICI’s operation expenses and capital outlay, including salaries for their personnel.

“Malaking bagay yun in any organization or any agency. (It’s a big boost in any organization or any agency.) Funding is very important, very crucial for our efficiency and for us to be able to work and meet the operational requirements, at the same time comply what we have asked for under the Executive Order 94,” he added.

Meanwhile, the 172 personnel open for hiring included jobs in the legal department, special investigation office, financial department, administrative staff, and support staff.

“Yung mga abogado natin ngayon, (Our current lawyers,) most of them are detailed to us by the government. But with this staffing pattern being approved now, and the budget hopefully to be downloaded  soon to the commission, we would be able to accommodate our organic staff already which would be composed of lawyers, accountants, and engineers as well,” Hosaka said.

“Having the approval of the staffing pattern and the budget and the funding would be the initial phase. The next would be for us to get the staff that we need. Once we get them, we get to hire them, doon na mapapabilis yan. Hindi naman ura-urada na makukuha namin yung staffing pattern o mapupuno namin ang aming complement. (Once we get them, we get to hire them, that’s when we can speed things up. It won’t be on the spot since we won’t immediately get the staffing pattern or fill up our complements.) It would take a bit of time again but the important thing is that we have the approved staffing pattern already and the budget soon,” he added.

While the ICI currently has no figures for their 2026 budget proposal, Hosaka shared that they were working on hiring a budget department to handle the matter. —VAL, GMA Integrated News