Malacañang on Friday branded as unconstitutional the ongoing probe by the Office of the Ombudsman into allegations that President Rodrigo Duterte had billions in ill-gotten wealth and questioned the legality of the provision under the Omdudsman Act allowing the Chief Executive to be investigated for purposes of filing an impeachment complaint.
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said they are set to review provisions under the Ombudsman Act, since these are hampering Duterte’s efforts to run the government efficiently.
“My theory now is that the Ombudsman investigation currently of the President is unconstitutional even if there is a provision in the Ombudusman law that it has investigatory power because to my mind, it will circumvent the doctrine of immunity of a sitting president from suit,” Panelo told reporters.
The President will decide on whether to question the provision before the Supreme Court, Panelo said but reiterated that Duterte cannot be investigated for acts when he was still a mayor and cannot be the subject of an investigation for purposes of filing an impeachment complaint.
Under Section 22 of Republic Act No. 6770 or the Ombudsman Act of 1989, the Office of the Ombudsman shall have the power “to investigate any serious misconduct in office allegedly committed by officials removable by impeachment, for the purpose of filing a verified complaint for impeachment, if warranted.
Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang confirmed the Office of the Ombudsman is looking into the bank transactions of President Rodrigo Duterte and his family, which allegedly amount to billions of pesos.
Duterte insisted that he is not hiding his wealth from the public, adding he can be shot if his wealth turns out to be more than P40 million.
He himself will also file impeachment charges against Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, blaming the two for allowing themselves to be used as pawns to oust him as President.