THE Office of the Ombudsman will review its 2021 decision dismissing the criminal and administrative charges filed against former Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president and now Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon and several others in connection with the construction of sports facilities for the holding of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
At a press briefing, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said he has asked his team to retrieve the whole file from 2021 in connection with the case ‘to see and to look at the possible violations of law.’
‘We are opening it up again. Bubuksan namin yan,’ Remulla said.
Assistant Ombudsman Jose Dominic Clavano IV earlier announced that that case has been dismissed for insufficiency of evidence in a resolution issued in December 2021.
Remulla said the case would not fall under the principle of double jeopardy since none of the respondents were charged before the court.
Double jeopardy is a legal principle that an accused cannot be tried twice for the same offense based on the same conduct. Its purpose is to protect the accused from harassment, oppression, and abuse of power by the state.
Asked if the Ombudsman will summon Senator Alan Peter Cayetano to send light on the matter since was then the chair of the 2019 Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC), Remulla said:
‘There is a time for everything. We first need to study how our office came out with the resolution in 2021.’
Meanwhile, National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag said his office would subpoena Phisgoc officials in relation to its investigation into anomalies in the disbursement of funds for the construction of a sports complex in New Clark City for the 2019 SEA Games.
Among those to be subpoenaed are Phisgoc chair Ramon ‘Tats’ Suzara, Phisgoc Chief Financial Officer Dexter Estacio and its Corporate Secretary John Lester Buenconsejo.
Matibag said the subpoenas will be issued on Monday for them to appear before the bureau on July 24.
The NBI’s investigation, according to Matibag, was prompted by ‘new information and documents’ it received pertaining to multi-billion allocations for projects undertaken by Phisgoc.