Metro Manila, Philippines – Blue ribbon committee chairman Erwin Tulfo said the Senate may hand over the flood control investigation to the Office of the Ombudsman to allow the chamber to focus on other corruption issues.
“I will have to relay this to all members ng blue ribbon what transpired during the closed-door meeting, pero initially napagusapan namin ni ombudsman everything that has to do with flood control sila na maghahawak kasi ang dami na ring ongoing. Tumatakbo na yung mga naisubmit ng ICI [Independent Commission for Infrastructure] sa kanila, yung mga congressman, yung mga cong-tractors, tsaka contractors, other government officials, mga kasamahan namin sa Senate, gumugulong na,” Tulfo told media.
[Translation: We discussed with the ombudsman that they’ll take the lead on everything that has to do with flood control as there’s a lot of ongoing investigations. There’s also movement after the ICI submitted its findings on congressmen, cong-tractors, contractors, government officials, and our fellow Senators.]
Tulfo met with Senate President Win Gatchalian and Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla in a closed-door meeting on Friday, August 7.
“Kung baka pakialaman pa namin, eh ika nga mapurnada pa and we don’t want to do that. So what he [Remulla] was saying kami na bahala, maybe you can start looking for other cases pag may dinala sa amin sa Senate,” Tulfo added.
[Translation: If we interfere with it, it might go to waste. So what Remulla said is that we’ll take it from here and you can start looking for other cases brought to the Senate.]
Tulfo said Remulla suggested that the Senate hand over the investigation to the ombudsman to avoid interference between the separate probes.
He said committee members will still have to discuss the move.
He further said that the Senate handed over some documents to the ombudsman.
“Ang problema po kasi [the problem is], blue ribbon is for legislation. We’re not investigating to prosecute, it’s just fact finding for legislation,” the committee chairman said.
Another corruption scandal
Meanwhile, Tulfo hinted that the committee may set its sights on yet another agency.
He said he and Remulla discussed another case to investigate in the next few weeks, but that it was still in the evidence-gathering stage.
Asked by reporters what the investigation was about, Tulfo said: “It’s affecting almost everybody.”
“Definitely, ginagamit po natin lahat everyday [We use it every day],” he added.
Tulfo refused to disclose more details about the supposed investigation but said they would make an announcement soon.
“Pero [but] it’s a ranking government official,” Tulfo ended.
