Ombudsman Jesus Crispin ‘Boying’ Remulla is looking into live-streaming the preliminary investigation (PI) hearing of cases, including those pertaining to the multibillion-peso flood control scandal.
‘We are looking at the design, where the PI can also be viewed live,’ Remulla said in a press conference on Wednesday.
Remulla said such moves are part of his office’s thrust for greater transparency.
‘We can look into the bounds of transparency we can adhere to in this office,’ he said.
Villanueva’s ‘secret’ case
In line with this transparency thrust, Remulla also said his office will publish the Ombudsman case of Senator Joel Villanueva under former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and Samuel Martirez.
‘People are speculating as to which is which and what is what,’ Remulla said. ‘It is actually public property, these are already decisions that are presumed to be valid.’
In 2016, former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales ordered the dismissal from public service of Villanueva for his administrative liability over the alleged anomalous use of P10 million from his Priority Development Assistance Fund allocation as a former representative of Cibac party-list which advocates against anticorruption.
However, the Senate did not implement Villanueva’s dismissal order as its members at that time agreed that the Ombudsman lacks jurisdiction over members of Congress.
Remulla said he would write to Senate President Vicente Sotto III to enforce the former Ombudsman’s ruling on Villanueva.
However, Remulla later learned that Martires, in July 2019, reversed Morales’ 2016 order in what the former Department of Justice chief call a ‘secret decision’ which prevented the ouster bid of Villanueva.
According to Remulla, no one knew about Martires’ decision to reverse Morales’ 2016 order, and the Philippine media was not made aware of it either.
New Villanueva complaint
Villanueva, however, faces another complaint reaching the Office of the Ombudsman.
The senator is among the six individuals subject to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure’s (ICI) recommendation for criminal and administrative charges the body filed before the Office of the Ombudsman on Wednesday.
During a House tri-comm hearing last month, former Bulacan Assistant 1st District Engineer Jaypee Mendoza said Villanueva allegedly requested P1.5 billion from former Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara for a multi-purpose building.
However, Alcantara, in a screenshot of a text message shown by Mendoza, allegedly said only P600 million could be purportedly allocated by former DPWH chief Manuel Bonoan.
Former DPWH engineer Brice Hernandez also alleged that Villanueva received at least 30 percent in kickbacks as a ‘standard operating procedure’ from the P600 million he purportedly appropriated to allocate in Bulacan.
Villanueva, who repeatedly denied such accusations, asserted his innocence once more in reaction to ICI’s move.