President Rodrigo Duterte will order an “independent investigation” to validate the report submitted by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission linking two Cabinet secretaries in corruption, Malacañang said Thursday.
“It’s up to the President. But he will order an investigation. He will have the report validated,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo told reporters in Malacañang.
Commissioner Greco Belgica, who earlier bared that his office have been investigating Cabinet rank officials over allegations of corruption, said the PACC submitted its findings and recommendation to the Office of the President in late October.
“The PACC has passed its report and recommendation to the OP. It goes through due process,” Belgica told Manila Standard.
Belgica earlier said the two sitting Cabinet officials have been accused of violating Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act based on the complaints filed.
He also said one of the complaints was filed by an official from the Cabinet secretary’s department while the other was submitted by a private citizen.
The two unindentified Cabinet members, Belgica said, have been cooperating with PACC investigators as the commission conducted a lifestyle check on them.
The PACC investigation on the Cabinet officials started in February, he said.
President Duterte has repeatedly said he would not tolerate even a “whiff” of corruption from any government employee, but he was also criticized for reappointing sacked officials to other government posts.