Gardiola raps under review; Romualdez plunder case near filing

MANILA, Philippines — The conflict of interest complaints against CWS party-list Rep. Edwin Gardiola and two other lawmakers are being evaluated by the Office of the Ombudsman, its chief Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Friday.

Aside from Gardiola, Remulla also named Tarlac 2nd District Rep. Cristy Angeles and Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Dong Gonzales.

READ: Sandiganbayan denies Romualdez’s bid to lift travel ban

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“We’ve been in the process of evaluating our investigations on legislators with conflict of interest, meaning to say, legislators who are also contractors,” Remulla said.

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Remulla said the lawmakers could be liable under the Section 3(h) of the Republic Act 3019 (Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) which prohibits “directly or indirectly having financial or pecuniary interest in any business, contract or transaction in connection with which he intervenes or takes part in his official capacity, or in which he is prohibited by the Constitution or by any law from having any interest.”

“Section 3(h) of Republic Act 3019 is very clear on conflict of interest,” Remulla said. “It’s just that for the longest time, people took it for granted that they do it because they can.”

Angeles on Friday said she will respond to the complaints in the proper forum.

“I respect our institutions and will fully cooperate with the Office of the Ombudsman,” Angeles said in a statement. “I will present all necessary explanations and documents in the proper forum.”

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“I request respect for due process and the avoidance of speculation,” she added.

Remulla said the cases against Angeles and Gonzales “are for preliminary investigation,” meaning the complaints are still under fact-finding process. The status of Gardiola’s complaint is not immediately clear.

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Fact finding vs prelim probe

Fact-finding is the first step of this process conducted by the anti-graft body’s investigators.

This process is usually confidential, but Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said there are certain exceptions.

“Even the public officials who are under investigation should not know that there is fact-finding being conducted against them,” Clavano said. “Of course there are several exceptions, especially when it involves national security or it has risen to the level of national significance, we can make those things public if necessary.”

Next is the preliminary investigation: Only when it reached that stage could the respondents be informed of their complaints which they could answer via a counter-affidavit.

Cases could only be filed either in the Regional Trial Court or the Sandiganbayan after the resolution of preliminary investigation.

Romualdez plunder case ‘very close’

In a related development, the plunder case against Rep. Martin Romualdez “is just about ready for preliminary investigation,” according to Remulla, meaning it is also under the fact-finding process.

To date, state prosecutors have yet to file a plunder case against Romualdez before the Sandiganbayan.

However, the anti-graft court granted the Ombudsman’s petition for a precautionary hold departure order on Romualdez while conducting their proceeding.

The complaint filed against Romualdez before the Ombudsman “involves the alleged kickback scheme tied to flood control projects, purportedly masterminded by the respondent, with the total amount of such kickbacks reaching approximately [P56 billion],” according to state prosecutors.

Romualdez has repeatedly denied such accusations, particularly the allegation that he is a mastermind of such a scheme, noting that it was former appropriations committee chairperson Zaldy Co and Sen. Chiz Escudero who were the ones making budget decisions.

READ: Romualdez: How can I be mastermind if Congress doesn’t build projects?

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“We’re very close to filing the plunder charges but we still have to cross the T’s and dot some I’s and probably put periods in sentences,” Remulla said of Romualdez’s plunder complaints. “That’s it, that’s how near it is.” /jpv