Former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief Solita Monsod on Wednesday lauded Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla for pursuing corruption cases, saying his efforts were a bright spot amid what she described as the country’s current “darkness” and “gloom.”

“I really think Ombudsman Boying Remulla is trying to do a good job,” Monsod said on DAILY TRIBUNE’s Straight Talk. “He has to do this for the Filipino people. If he does not do this for the Filipino people, he may rot in hell.”

Asked what she saw as a positive development amid the current situation, Monsod pointed to the government’s effort to charge those accused of corruption.

She said Remulla’s task was not simply to identify people who may be corrupt, but to establish evidence against them.

“As I said, it’s different that you know that a man is crooked and that you can prove that the man is crooked,” Monsod said. “At least he’s (Remulla) trying to prove that the men are crooked.”

The Ombudsman has been pursuing investigations into anomalies in flood control projects, as he takes on a growing number of cases involving public officials and government infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has deferred its flood control investigation to allow the Ombudsman to pursue cases based on evidence the panel has gathered.

Remulla has expanded the probe outside Metro Manila. He recently identified Davao City as an “epicenter” of flood control spending during the previous administration, but he stressed that investigators still need to establish the evidence.

Monsod also criticized what she described as the extent of corruption under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., saying international data showed that it was “just slightly less” than during the administration of his father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

“The amount of corruption under Bongbong Marcos, the amount of corruption is just slightly less than the amount of corruption during his father’s time,” she said.

She also questioned the Marcos family’s denial of its ill-gotten wealth and warned against allowing political or regional loyalty to override “reasoning” and “logic.”

“If we as a people continue this, you know, what we do is we discount all reasoning, all logic, all for loyalty,” Monsod said.