The Office of the Ombudsman on Friday clarified that the respondents in the so-called "Pabaon" case are not yet off the hook.
It can be recalled Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales approved the recommendations of the Ombudsman panel that twice reviewed the resolution of the Department of Justice which conducted the preliminary investigation of the complaint for plunder filed by complainant Col. George Rabusa.
In the two Ombudsman panel reports (one focusing on plunder and the other on possible violation of other crimes), the Ombudsman affirmed the DOJ panel's recommendation to dismiss the charges as against 11 respondents, and reversed the DOJ panels's finding of probable cause as against the 11 other respondents for insufficiency of evidence.
"It is up to the parties to avail, if they so wish, of the remedy of filing a motion for reconsideration. This is why the Office has been silent in discussing or explaining the merits of the case outside of those written in the approved report. One party might charge us of opening another party's eyes on what to do," Morales said.
Morales also clarified that contrary to allegations she did not exercise the power to conduct case build-up, she pointed out one of the recommendations she approved was the conduct of fact-finding investigation on the "alleged misuse or irregular purchase of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) sometime in 2001" and the request to the Commission on Audit (COA) to "conduct a Fraud Audit on the following projects: a) CMO Project Balik Baril Program, b) CMO Project Sunshine/Millennium Aurora, c) Utulization of MNL Personal Service Funds, [and] d) Utilization of funds covering the Allotment Advices[,]" and additionally on the "purchase of Howitzer Ammunition from the Government of Thailand and the bank account claimed by Rabusa that he opened and maintained[.]"
Morales disclosed the Ombudsman has been conducting a case build-up since September 2012, including requesting the COA Chairperson to submit copies of any COA audit findings on the said projects.
She explained she had expected to complete the case build-up within a few months after the Ombudsman panel reports were approved, so that a third report could encapsulate everything.
Considering, however, the additional time needed by the field investigators, the letters requesting early resolution of the review of the DOJ resolution, and the additional or entirely new evidence not touched upon in the DOJ proceedings which have been and could still be gathered from the Ombudsman case build-up, the Ombudsman decided to release the approved Ombudsman panel report months after their approval.
The Ombudsman panel, chaired by directors Ireneo Paldeng and Maria Olivia Elena Roxas, said the panel realized its authority to review was confined only to passing upon the findings and recommendations of the DOJ panel, and it was on this account it recommended the conduct of a case build-up by the Ombudsman and the conduct of a fraud audit by the COA.
"Not affording the respondents a chance to confront any new evidence that may surface during the case build-up will run afoul of the due process requirement," Paldeng said.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&sid=&nid=&rid=518075
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