AN ANTI-CORRUPTION advocate at the House of Representatives has rallied behind the Office of Ombudsman’s filing of criminal charges against former high-ranking government officials linked to irregularities in the transfer and use of COVID-19 funds during the pandemic.
“We express our full support and solidarity with the Office of Ombudsman in pursuing justice on behalf of the Filipinos against those who looted public funds at the height of the pandemic. May the Ombudsman show no mercy against those who conspired to rob the Filipino people,” said Rep. Eddie Villanueva of Citizens Battle Against Corruption (Cibac) party-list group.
“This action of the Ombudsman is a crucial step in tilting the momentum of the anti-corruption crusade of the government. There should be no sacred cow when the interest of the people is at stake,” Villanueva stressed.
“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne. Our government, being just an extension of God’s seat of power, must be similarly founded on the same,” he added.
The Ombudsman filed a graft case against former Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III and former Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service (DBM-PS) executive director Lloyd Christopher Lao over alleged irregularities in the transfer and use of P41.46-billion funds from the DOH to the DBM-PS during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
