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Senate Deputy Majority Leader Joel Villanueva and Senator Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero (Courtesy: Senate of the Philippines)
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said Friday that cases will still proceed against Senators Joel Villanueva and Francis Escudero despite allegations that their move to join the Senate’s majority bloc affected their legal battles.
Former Department of Public Works and Highways Bulacan First District engineer Henry Alcantara accused Villanueva of receiving a P150 million in kickback for a P600-million multi-purpose building project in the province.
However, Villanueva has since denied the accusation.
Escudero was also accused of receiving kickbacks from flood control projects, which he likewise denied.
Meanwhile, Remulla dismissed concerns that the anti-graft body was targeting the new Senate minority.
“No such thing. Remember, the people in jail now, many of them were our allies. That’s just the way it is,” Remulla said
As part of continuing inquiry into the multibillion peso anomalous flood control scandal, Remulla said that some of the cases against multiple officials were lifted to the preliminary investigation stage.
Members of Congress that the Ombudsman specifically named were Tarlac 2nd District Rep. Cristy Angeles, Uswag Ilonggo Party-list Rep. Jojo Ang, and Construction Workers Solidarity Party-list Rep. Edwin Gardiola whose cases were about to pass the fact-finding stage of the probe.
“We are in the process evaluating investigations on legislators on conflict of interest.” Remulla said. “We have to take it one by one, because it’s not easy to build up cases.”
Meanwhile, Remulla also said that their case against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez was also set for the preliminary investigation as they were slowly gathering all pieces of evidence related to the issue.
The official was also asked about the overwhelming public sentiment regarding the investigations into flood control, particularly the seemingly slow moving progress when it came to the actual filing of criminal charges.
To that, Remulla said that he was not necessarily looking to rush the filing of cases, stressing that he wanted to ensure that no stone was left unturned in case build-up and that cases were submitted properly and not weaponized.
“The principle that we want to rule here is that when we ask for a continuous trial, and it is granted, that all the evidence is already there. No evidence or testimony will be lost…preparation is the most difficult, preparation needs to be complete,” he said. — Rex Espiritu
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