Corruption raps for Morales too

Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang’s dismissal by the Palace was expected with the retirement of his boss, Conchita Carpio-Morales.

Carandang at a press conference disclosed and even showed the media the alleged bank transactions of President Duterte and his family members amounting to some P2 billion.

But this was officially denied by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

The strange part about this P2 billion bank transactions claim, however, is the fact that Carpio-Morales backed up Carandang’s claim including claiming that, indeed, the bank documents came from the AMLC despite the denial made by the Council.

But she and Carandang walked back their bank transactions claim after the media pointed out that these were one and the same bank transactions documents earlier submitted by Sen. Antonio Trillanes. The senator had these distributed to the press and which was already debunked as faked bank transactions.

Yet Morales and her deputy still tried to give the public impression of Duterte and his family members having acquired ill-gotten wealth.

It is fact that even as Morales backed the lies of her deputy Carandang on the alleged bank transactions, claiming that these were submitted to her by the AMLC, which was fake news, and the AMLC officially debunked the Ombudsman claim on these bank documents. She had, however, admitted—after the press reported that these are fake documents—obviously manufactured bank transactions from Trillanes—and that what she was providing the public with manufactured documents that she passes off as genuine and coming from the ALMC was a total lie.

It is fact too, that Morales stated in public, after the second denial from the AMLC that it had supplied Morales with the documents, that AMLC was making it difficult for the Ombudsman to investigate this matter, since the AMLC refuses to provide her with documents.

This means that she knew all along that the documents presented to the media by Carandang were fake, yet she and her deputy tried to pass these bank transactions off as genuine AMLC documents.

Since Carandang is being held liable for graft and corruption and betrayal of public trust, shouldn’t Carpio-Morales also be held liable for the same crime of graft and corruption as well as her evident betrayal of public trust for backing the lies of her deputy and her upholding of her deputy lies, especially when she knew that these were fake bank transactions from Trillanes?

Yet Morales so arrogantly claims that she is not corrupt and is an independent Ombudsman, despite concrete proof that she was, until her retirement, engaged in selective justice and the manufacture of “evidence” aside from being a very vindictive Ombudsman!

Morales had a falling out with Duterte and as is her wont, she apparently wanted Duterte destroyed, just as she had politically destroyed then Vice President Jojo Binay and his son Junjun, preventing him from running for reelection as mayor of Makati.

That Morales was being not only highly partisan but also vindictive can be proved by the court’s dismissal of Morales’ order of a perpetual dismissal from public service against Junjun, even when he committed no crime.

The 30 July decision stated that Carandang’s dismissal came as the findings showed him to be liable for graft and corruption and betrayal of public trust.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea signed the decision which also charged Carandang with accessory penalties of cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits, barring him from taking civil service examinations and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

Should Carandang question Malacañang’s dismissal order, he can always go to court which will probably get him reinstated since earlier, the Supreme Court (SC) had ruled in a complaint made by a former deputy of the Ombudsman that the Palace is not empowered to discipline the deputy Ombudsman.

However, while Carandang may be reinstated by the appellate court or even the SC, he can certainly still be held liable by the new Ombudsman, Samuel Martires, for graft and corruption as well as betrayal of public trust and perhaps even presenting fake documents as coming from the AMLC.

And perhaps, just perhaps, Carpio-Morales can also be indicted for the same crimes on “probable cause” of her having allegedly committed the crimes of graft and corruption, manufacturing fake documents and passing them off as AMLC submitted bank transactions, if only for her to experience the destruction she had caused in all of her seven years as Ombudsman.

She destroyed the lives of the political foes of her yellow patron, Noynoy Aquino and her protection of him and his yellows.

There would be no justice if she were to go scot-free!