Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano. (Photo from the Philippine Information Agency)
The long wait is finally over for those wanting the real people behind corruption in government to be held accountable as the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) announced the filing two separate complaints for preliminary investigation against former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez for plunder and violation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Former Ako Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co was also named a co-respondent in the complaints being prepared by the OMB.
In a media briefing, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano disclosed that the determination for the filing of complaints for preliminary investigation was made following a “thorough and painstaking probe” on information indicating Romualdez’s alleged involvement in corruption, particularly in said ‘insertions’ in the national expenditure program (NEP).
“The Office of the Ombudsman is set to file two separate complaints for preliminary investigation against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, Mr. Elizaldy Co and several others—one for plunder under Republic Act No. 7080, and another for violation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, as amended,” Clavano declared.
The assistant Ombudsman, however, clarified that this initial probe is “not a conviction” nor is it a “formal charge before a court.”
He asserted that “it is this Office’s determination that the evidence gathered is substantial enough to warrant a full and formal inquiry into whether or not the case should be filed in court.”
“Every respondent will be given the opportunity to answer. The presumption of innocence stands, as it must, unless and until proven otherwise in the proper forum,” he added to conclude.
