THE Department of Justice (DOJ) is backing the initiative of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate the alleged anomalies in the construction of facilities used in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
In a statement, the DOJ headed by Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida, said it is part of the NBI’s mandate to investigate any irregularities involving public officials and private individuals.
‘The Department respects the mandate and authority of the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct investigations, whether upon referral or motu proprio,’ the DOJ said.
‘While the NBI is an attached agency of the Department, it is given sufficient operational independence to perform its investigative functions as it deems appropriate under the law,’ it added.
During the impeachment trial last Wednesday, several minority senators questioned the timing and the motive of the NBI in announcing its ongoing investigation into the alleged anomalies involving infrastructure projects for the 2019 SEA Games, including the New Clark City sports complex and the controversial SEA Games cauldron.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag said the agency has received ‘new information
and documents’ pertaining to multi-billion allocations for projects undertaken by the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc).
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, head of the minority bloc in the Senate, served as Phisgoc chairman, which organized the 2019 SEA Games,
Cayetano, along with Sens. Robinhood Padilla and Pia Cayetano lambasted the NBI for apparently trying to ‘intimidate and disrupt’ the minority senators from performing their duties as senator-judges in the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
‘Is this just a coincidence or is this something we should be afraid of?’ Padilla said in Filipino.
Cayetano, on the other hand, said: ‘If the intention was to have a chilling effect, we already have that chilling effect.’
In response, the DOJ assured the public that NBI’s actions on the issues ‘are grounded solely in its mandate and the rule of law.’
‘The Department has full confidence that the NBI will continue to carry out its work with the professionalism, integrity, and independence expected of it,’ the justice department stressed.