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Caloocan City 2nd District Rep. Edgar ‘Egay’ Erice and Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla (Courtesy: Egay Erice / Office of the Ombudsman Philippines)
A member of the House minority bloc on Wednesday accused Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla of seeking a huge amount of confidential and intelligence funds from then House appropriations chair and fugitive Zaldy Co.
Caloocan City 2nd District Rep. Edgar Erice made the accusation against Remulla who was then the secretary of the Department of Justice.
In an interview on One News’ Political Beat, Erice said the DOJ under Remulla received a total of P1.5 billion in confidential and intelligence funds.
“Si Sec. Boying Remulla ng Department of Justice, mayroon siyang ₱350 million na confidential funds (Sec. Boying Remulla of the Department of Justice, he has ₱350 million in confidential funds),” Erice accused.
“Nag-request siya kay Zaldy Co ng additional… ₱1 billion and ₱150 million additional. So for 2025, mayroon siyang ₱1.5 billion. For the first time in history ng Sec. Justice, may ₱1.5 billion na confidential intelligence fund,” Erice added.
(He requested from Zaldy Co an additional… ₱1 billion and ₱150 million additional. So for 2025, he has ₱1.5 billion. For the first time in the history of the Secretary of Justice, there was a ₱1.5 billion confidential intelligence fund).
He also voiced concerns against the use of such secret funds.
“Ako, naniniwala ako na ‘pag binuksan mo lahat ng mga confidential funds, baka mayroon ding ‘Mary Grace Piattos,’ mayroon ding mga ‘McDonald’s,’ baka mayroon ding ‘Jollibee,’ kasi nga ang concept, kaya madaling nakawin ’yang confidential funds… pwede kang maglagay ng aliases on the claim na pinoprotektahan mo ’yung identity ng asset,” he added.
(I believe that if you were to open up all the confidential funds, you might find ‘Mary Grace Piattos,’ ‘McDonald’s,’ or even ‘Jollibee’ in there. The very concept makes those confidential funds easy to steal because you can use aliases under the pretext of protecting an asset’s identity.)
Remulla has yet to issue a statement in response to Erice’s accusation as of this posting. — Maricel Cruz
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Credit belongs to: www.manilastandard.net
