Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla on Tuesday said the anti-graft body is investigating to determine if there is corruption in flood control projects in Davao City, which he tagged as the ‘epicenter’ of budget allocations in the past administration.
Remulla made this remark during the House committee on appropriations deliberating the Office of the Ombudsman’s P7 billion proposed budget.
Act Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio asked Remulla: ‘Is the Ombudsman doing anything to investigate flood control corruption issues during the previous administration?’
‘Yes, but it is not really easy,’ Remulla responded. ‘The epicenter of flood control before the Marcos administration is Davao City.’
Remulla noted it’s hard to penetrate the ‘ecosystem of corruption’ in the city.
‘It’s hard to get information, so many people don’t want to talk, but we don’t stop,’ he further said.
In response, Tinio said, ‘What was said is clear: Davao City is the epicenter of flood control corruption in the past administration.’
However, Remulla quickly clarified: ‘I will not make that conclusion immediately; we are studying this, because what’s important is we see the evidence on the ground.’
After the hearing, he clarified that he tagged Davao City as the ‘epicenter’ because of the large amount of funds allocated to the city.
‘[Epicenter] of flood control, because there was a big budget in the past in Davao City in flood control, that’s what I know,’ Remulla said when asked what he exactly meant by ‘epicenter.’
Pressed once more if the ‘epicenter’ does not refer to corruption per se, he said: ‘Well, we will check out the flood control there.’