Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) Executive Director Atty. Brian Keith Hosaka on Monday denied claims that the United States (US) ‘interfered’ in the investigation of anomalous infrastructure projects.

“Wala namang interference doon because nagtatanong lang naman sila, they are just asking questions about the ICI,” Hosaka said.

“We didn’t divulge anything or nothing was tackled outside of what we already informed the public or the Filipinos. There is no interference as far as we are concerned,” he added.

Hosaka explained that the visit by US Embassy Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Michael Kelleher last week was a “courtesy call.”

“Basically, he came here for a courtesy call. He just wanted to know our basic mandate, what we have accomplished so far, and what our plans are,” Hosaka said.

“So it was a courtesy call. It was similar to any diplomatic courtesy calls which they would do to any other branch of government,” he noted.

Earlier, during a press briefing, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Atty. Claire Castro clarified Kelleher's visit to the ICI as a “courtesy call” during a recent press briefing.

The ICI and Palace emphasized that the meeting was purely diplomatic and procedural.

Meanwhile, Hosaka said that the ICI needs 180 personnel to speed up its investigation into corruption.

The ICI is also hoping that the commission’s organizational structure will be finalized soon.

“Well, estimated, I can just give you a ballpark figure. Siguro from 170 to 180 staff. Kasi nakita naman natin gaano kalawak ‘yung tinitignan natin, ‘yung 238,200 infrastructure projects which is malaki talaga. In fact, daunting and challenging. But kailangan namin ng full capacity to be able to do this and audit it,” Hosaka said.

The commission faces the task of reviewing over 238,000 infrastructure projects to identify potential anomalies.