Asked whether the Ombudsman had the ability to investigate during the trial, the former lawmaker expressed that the anti-graft body was an independent office and that it had the liberty to investigate any public official presumed to have committed unlawful acts.
“The Ombudsman has the power for a moto proprio, it is actually encouraged that it moves on its own, without a prompt from anybody because it is an independent office,” he said.
“If you are being pushed or prompted by an office or some people does that mean you are below them?” he added.
Even with the powers afforded under Philippine law, Pimentel noted that the Ombudsman may be loaded when it came to the cases that they were looking into–particularly when it came to the flood control scam.
The former public official mentioned that such investigations often involved numerous individuals, including governors, city mayors, and municipal mayors throughout the country.
Crime of malversation?
Last Monday, 25 August, House prosecutor Rep. Terry Ridon urged the Office of the Ombudsman to probe Duterte and the OVP for a potential case of malversation given the alleged misuse of confidential funds of P500 million in confidential funds from 2022 to 2023.
Ridon believed that there was a clear misuse of funds, particularly when it came to the testimony of former OVP special disbursing officer (SDO) Gina Acosta that said that she provided the funds to former Duterte security head Col. Raymund Lachica for disbursement.
The revelation was flagged by the prosecution panel as it was said to have violated a guideline under Commission on Audit Joint Circular No. 2015-01 which states that an SDO has the sole responsibility of disbursing confidential funds.
“We call on the Ombudsman to look into whether there is actual malversation committed by Miss Acosta, Mr. Lachica, Vice President Sara Duterte is using confidential funds,” Ridon said in a press conference.
Pimentel, however, said that he would refrain from labeling what type of crime the Vice President could have committed, noting how even a crime of malversation had different types.
Ombudsman monitoring the impeachment
As for the anti-graft body, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano confirmed on Friday, 28 August, that they had a dedicated team to monitor the ongoing impeachment of the Vice President.
He said that the Ombudsman would leave it up to the said team to take action on any information that they would gather throughout the proceedings.
“Well, there is a team that is monitoring the impeachment proceedings of the Vice President and we will leave it up to them to recommend any action to be taken on the statements therein,” he said.
“As of right now, there is nothing that is being recommended to the Ombudsman but the team continues to monitor the proceedings,” he explained.
The impeachment trial against the Vice President is set to resume on Tuesday, 1 September, for the prosecution’s presentation of evidence concerning Article I.
