DILG chief links contractor, lawmaker to bribe offers
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said on Thursday there was a second attempt to bribe him and his brother, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, in exchange for clearing certain personalities linked to anomalous infrastructure projects.
One of the “personalities” reached out to him through a common friend, he said in a press briefing in Quezon City, adding that the bribe offer was made either on Jan. 11 or Jan. 12.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) chief earlier told the Inquirer about the first bribe attempt, saying it was made during a private meeting around two weeks ago. The offer was coursed through a “mutual friend” who said a congressman was offering P1 billion for both him and his brother to “quiet down” the investigation into anomalous flood control projects.
Secretary Remulla said the first attempt was connected to a congressman who is also supposedly a contractor based in the Visayas and Mindanao while the second attempt was linked to a government contractor based in Luzon.
Not Zaldy Co
He declined to name them, although he clarified that he was not referring to former appropriations chair and resigned Ako Bicol party list Rep. Zaldy Co, who is wanted for graft and malversation over an allegedly anomalous P286.5-million flood control project in Mindoro.
“They wanted us to help them with their case, remove them from the list and let them out on bail. That’s what they wanted,” Secretary Remulla explained in an interview on dzBB also on Thursday. “But this is not possible. It’s not in our system and we wouldn’t allow it.”
Asked why he was not suing those who offered bribes, he said, “Because it’s deniable. What they did allows them to deny it through their emissaries. Usually, these are just their friends.”
In reply to a question if he contacted the contractor and the congressman-contractor, Secretary Remulla said: “Number one, I don’t know them. Number two, I would only do that in an official function. I don’t have enough grounds to prosecute the case since their offer to me would have been hearsay.”
He added that when he informed his brother about the supposed bribe offers, Ombudsman Remulla laughed and said, “Is that how little they think of us?”
In a separate press briefing, Ombudsman Remulla said that no bribe offer was made to him directly.
Flimsy
“I asked him (DILG secretary) about that. The problem with our society is that we have a lot of interconnections with each other. At times, it’s flimsy and without basis—‘a friend of a friend of a friend.’ That’s hard to pin down,” he said.
But the older Remulla said that if there had been a direct offer made to him, those involved would have been immediately arrested for bribery and corruption of public officials.
He also declined to comment on his brother’s claims about the two bribe attempts since he did not deal directly with those who made the offers. —WITH A REPORT FROM FAITH ARGOSINO
