Amid ongoing calls for more reports and updates on issues surrounding the country, Ombudsman Boying Remulla assured Filipinos that the agency will avoid “unnecessary delay” by undertaking a full inventory of aging cases.
“I don't want to give any time, day, week, we don't have that anymore, when it's final ask me, no not now, when it's final,” Remulla said during the agency’s Strategic and Operational Planning at Camp John Hay on Tuesday morning.
“We have a protocol that we follow, so that our evidential value of anything will not be damaged,” he continued.
Remulla said the next few months will be “exciting,” noting that investigations are now undergoing legal research on corruption both locally and internationally.
“Because it's a worldwide phenomenon, the corruption. How each country deals with it is important, because in the end, we look at other systems,” he said.
The Ombudsman also congratulated the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, chaired by Ping Lacson, for its inquiries, which he said provide sufficient material for the Office of the Ombudsman.
“For us, if we can get information from the Blue Ribbon, it's good, because it will help our work,” Remulla said.
“So it guides us to the proper direction, it gives us clues on what more questions to ask, and of course, it makes us think of how we can present them as evidence,” he added.
Remulla, however, dismissed claims linking his office to reports of a change in Senate leadership.
“That’s our policy, not ours,” he said.
He also spoke about the agency’s coordination with his former department, the Department of Justice, saying it remains an institution he trusts.
“I've worked with them for more than three years, so I have a lot of confidence in the DOJ,” he said.
Asked about the controversial “Cabral files” linked to the late Department of Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral, Remulla said the documents yielded nothing of value.
“Because the Cabral files, you know, it's in a computer owned by the government. We were turned over some files, unfortunately, we couldn't find anything in the files,” he said.