Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla said that probes involving Senators Francis “Chiz” Escudero and Joel Villanueva are moving, noting that the case against the latter is further along while the Ombudsman exercises caution on all pending matters.
“Under investigation, maybe the case of Sen. Villanueva is a little more advanced than Sen. Escudero. But it’s moving, it’s moving. But we just have to be careful about everything that we… every move that we make on these matters,” Remulla said, adding the cases stem from flood control issues earlier denied by the senators involved.
Remulla said the investigations form part of a broader pipeline of cases at the Office of the Ombudsman that are nearing the formal case stage.
“We have around 12 very, very ripe cases or investigations that are about to ripen into cases. Twelve of them are already in the answering process. The respondents have started filing their counter-affidavits,” he said.
The Ombudsman did not go into specifics on the individual cases, but stressed that developments continue as required under the rules, with due process guiding each step as the investigations move forward.
Lacson has said the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s initial draft report, which recommends plunder and other possible criminal complaints, will not omit the names of Escudero, Villanueva, and Sen Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada.
He emphasized that their investigation strictly follows the alleged facts and evidence that emerged during the hearings into the alleged multibillion-peso flood control scam.
Lacson reiterated that the Committee’s work remains evidence-driven, with the report reflecting what surfaced in the hearings, particularly in relation to plunder and other possible criminal liabilities.
“As I said, based on facts, based on evidence, and we should be led by or we should follow the evidence,” Lacson, panel chairman, pointed out during a Bilyonaryo TV interview with Pinky Webb.
“There’s no doubt. Even former senator, incumbent senator, once they were mentioned, their names will be mentioned definitely because, if I omit their names, I might as well omit other names that were also mentioned during the hearings, and I won’t do that,” Lacson said.
A copy of the draft and partial report earlier leaked to the media showed that the committee went beyond plunder, also pushing for charges of malversation of public funds and direct bribery against former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co, former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Escudero, Villanueva, Estrada, former Caloocan City Rep. Mitch Cajayon-Uy, and others.
Lacson explained that the inclusion of names in the committee report is dictated by the narrative established during the investigation.
“Yeah, because it was there in the narrative. Once they were mentioned in the investigation, definitely they will be mentioned,” he added.
Lacson said the committee has already conducted preliminary discussions on the draft report and made revisions based on members’ inputs, without altering its substance.
“Yeah, we already did. We held preliminary talks then I revised based on their input. There was nothing substantial or substantive that was touched in the committee report,” Lacson said.
The changes, Lacson noted, were confined to refining the language of the document.
“We just revised some words, the proper language, more proper or appropriate language that we used in the report, and I’m ready again to present it to them, maybe on Monday,” Lacson said.
Earlier, Lacson said the draft report was given to senators on February 3 where six senators—Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, Sherwin Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros, Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, and Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan—have so far signed the draft report.
However, Zubiri, Ejercito, and Gatchalian later pulled out their signatures, saying they needed more time to thoroughly study the final committee report.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “Probes vs. senators moving; 12 cases against other figures soon”
