OMBUDSMAN Conchita Carpio-Morales said resigned Davao City vice mayor Paolo Duterte is now the subject of a preliminary investigation into his supposed ill-gotten wealth.
“I was told that the investigation respecting his unexplained wealth has been closed and terminated. When you say closed and terminated, that is without prejudice to another investigation if warranted,” she said.
She said there was an investigation pending before the Office of the Ombudsman against a member of the presidential family.
Asked, she replied, “They [the investigators] said it is the vice mayor,” referring to Paolo Duterte.
She said her office does not keep any dossiers about the case against the younger Duterte since she inhibited herself from the case because her nephew Manases Carpio is the husband of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, Paolo’s sister.
On May 2, the Ombudsman absolved Paolo and Manases of any involvement in the P6.4 billion worth of shabu smuggled through the Bureau of Customs for lack of evidence.
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV filed a complaint accusing Paolo of enriching himself.
Malacañang is taking a hands-off stance on the Ombudsman’s decision to investigate Paolo Duterte for his alleged ill-gotten wealth.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the Palace also left it to the Ombudsman to determine if resigned Tourism secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo and others behind the controversial P60-million advertising deal with PTV4 will be held accountable.
Roque said the Ombudsman has the power to investigate on its own and initiate proper action against public officers.
“We see this as part of the Ombudsman’s constitutional mandate to ensure public accountability,” Roque said.
Morales said all documents pertaining to Paolo’s investigation no longer pass through her office following her recusal on cases involving President’s family.
Roque said the Ombudsman would likely still investigate Teo even after she resigned, and even if her brother, whose show received P60 million in ad placements, returned the money.
“They have to look into the deal, which was flagged by the Commission on Audit [COA], to determine if Teo has in fact criminal liability,” Roque said.
Roque said the Palace also has its own investigation into the case.
Teo repeatedly denied having knowledge of PTV’s decision to place the DoT advertisements in the “Kilos Pronto” program of her brother Ben Tulfo, saying that the project went through a bidding process and was reviewed by her department’s legal department.
The CoA, however, flagged the ad spend for lack of supporting documents including a memorandum of agreement.
In December, Paolo resigned as vice mayor after being dragged into the controversial smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu at the Bureau of Customs and a public squabble with his teenage daughter, Isabelle.
The resigned vice mayor is facing a number of cases including graft, forfeiture, and perjury.
Morales on Wednesday also said Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Carandang is facing an internal investigation for breach of confidentiality in the case involving President Rodrigo Duterte’s bank accounts.
Morales confirmed the probe into Carandang’s culpability, but admitted she never implemented the suspension order on him issued by the Office of the Executive Secretary in January because only the Ombudsman can impose disciplinary action on any deputy ombudsman.
Carandang may also face possible criminal culpability, she said.
Morales, along with Carandang, attended a recent justice forum in Quezon City.
“I did not implement the order. In light of the prevailing jurisprudence, it is the [Office of the] Ombudsman, not the President, that can discipline the deputy ombudsman,” she said.
Carandang earlier told media interview that the President had a cash flow close to P1 billion.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, who also took part in the justice forum, declined to comment when asked about the Ombudsman’s failure to implement the suspension order on Carandang.
Guevarra was the senior deputy executive secretary when Malacañang issued the suspension order.
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption filed a complaint with the Ombudsman, accusing Carandang of criminally violating the rule on bank confidentiality.
While the Deputy Ombudsman for Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices had closed and terminated the bank investigation on Duterte’s accounts over the refusal of the Anti-Money Laundering Council to cooperate, Morales said this would not prejudice another investigation, if warranted. With PNA