Amid the Call on Gov’t, Ombudsman Remulla Speaks on Continuous Pursuit for Accountability
Ombudsman Boying Remulla confirmed that a new batch of flood control charges will be filed today before the Sandiganbayan.
Despite the resignation of two (2) members of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure, the Malacañang Palace previously clarified that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wants the ICI to continue the flood control investigation. It came after the rumors that the commission will allegedly be dissolved by February.
The supposed multi-billion flood control corruption in the Philippines brought thousands of Filipinos to the streets to rally against the alleged scam. Marcos Jr. vowed that the government will run after the culprits in the flood control mess.
Amid the issue, the ICI was created under an executive order. It worked alongside the Ombudsman in the investigation of the flood control mess. Previously, arrest warrants were released against several individuals tagged in the issue including former House Budget Appropriations Committee Zaldy Co.
Aside from Zaldy Co, the following personalities tagged in the flood control mess are also faced with an arrest warrant:
- Gerald Pacanan, DPWH Regional Director
- Gene Ryan Altea, DPWH Assistant Regional Director
- Ruben D.S. Santos, DPWH Assistant Regional Director
- Dominic Serrano, DPWH Chief, Construction Division; Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Chairperson
- Juliet Calvo, DPWH Chief, Maintenance Division
- Dennis Abagon, DPWH OIC-Chief, Quality Assurance and Hydrology Division;
- Regular Member, BAC
- Montrexis Tamayo, DPWH OIC-Chief, Planning and Design Division
- Lerma Cayco, DPWH Accountant IV
- Felisardo Casuno, DPWH Project Engineer 3
- Timojen Sacar, DPWH Material Engineer
- Aderman Alcazar, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sunwest Construction
- Cesar Buenavntura, Treasurer and Member of the Board of Directors, Sunwest Construction
- Consuelo Aldon, Member of the Board of Directors, Sunwest Construction
- Engr. Noel Yap Cao, Member of the Board of Directors, Sunwest Construction
- Anthony Ngo, Member of the Board of Directors, Sunwest Construction
Previously, presidential sister and Senator Imee Marcos claimed that a new set of flood control raps will allegedly be filed against senators on January 15. According to her, she’s sad that only the senators are allegedly the target of the flood control charges and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez is not.
Furthermore, Sen. Marcos claimed that her cousin and the Speaker’s Office are allegedly the source of corruption in the House of Representatives. Ombudsman Boying Remulla previously reacted to the claim of Sen. Imee Marcos.
Then, Ombudsman Boying Remulla refused to give dates on the filing of the flood control charges contrary to the claim of Sen. Imee Marcos. He assured that things are moving smoothly on the flood control investigation.
“Buti pa siya, alam niya. Ako, hindi ko alam [ang filing of charges na ‘yan]. Hindi ko alam saan ‘yan nanggagaling. We cannot give any dates or any commitments [on] anything [about that],” Remulla said.
Recently, Ombudsman Boying Remulla announced that a new batch of the flood control charges will be filed today, January 16. Based on a report on GMA News, the country’s chief graft-buster refused to give more details and told the public to just wait for the filing of the cases.
“Ebidensiya ang priority namin rito (Evidence is our priority here). We are not going for probable cause. We want reasonable certainty of conviction,” the Ombudsman said.
Recently, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla claimed that he and Ombudsman Boying Remulla were allegedly offered P1 billion to silence the flood control probe.