Ombudsman mentions Martin, Chiz, Villars in talk of next raps
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said more high-profile politicians will soon be held liable either for directly facilitating or for turning a blind eye on corruption-tainted flood control and other infrastructure projects in the past several years.
Among the officials being subjected to ongoing investigations are Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives; resigned Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co, the former House appropriations chair; and former Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Remulla said in a press conference on Tuesday.
The Ombudsman said his office would also form a new task force focusing on the Villar family and its business dealings, particularly for the river drive and flood control projects in the cities of Las Piñas (Metro Manila) and Bacoor (Cavite).
Former Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), of which he is a member, saw a possible “connivance” among the people involved in what critics described as the country’s “largest corruption scandal” to date.
Remulla said that in examining the cases involving Co, a pattern showed the former lawmaker’s coordination with some senators in crafting the final version of the national budget. The Ombudsman, however, did not name these senators.
Romualdez, on the other hand, was “responsible” for Co’s appointment as chair of the powerful House committee on appropriations in the 19th Congress from 2022 to 2025, Remulla added.
“Although Zaldy Co was elected on the floor, everybody knows that he was the [former] Speaker’s choice,” he said. “That’s why we have to hold him (Romualdez) accountable for that.”
“I know we’re crossing the boundary of a normal legal theory, but we have to stretch it a bit. The whole government machinery and the Filipino people suffered damages due to the acts of Zaldy Co,” Remulla said.
He announced the direction being taken by his office as the ICI, chaired by retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr., along with Singson, submitted another referral to the Office of the Ombudsman accusing former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan of allowing corruption to go unchecked on his watch. (See related story on Page A3.)
Remulla said he is considering suing Romualdez for negligence, in line with the “leadership principle.”
“The buck stops with you (Romualdez),” Remulla said. “All the narrations from the beginning of the Senate [hearings] that led to these revelations, all of them will be used in putting up the theory of gross inexcusable negligence.”
Remulla said information obtained by his office showed that Co, who had not reported for work when the 20th Congress started its sessions in July until his resignation on Sept. 29, was moving between Spain and Portugal.
Denial
Earlier, Brian Keith Hosaka, ICI executive director, said Romualdez, at the closed-door ICI hearing on Oct. 14, denied allegations that he received kickbacks in the implementation of government infrastructure projects.
Romualdez, who resigned as leader of the House on Sept. 17, attended the hearing after being subpoenaed by the commission to “discuss his familiarity and personal knowledge as Speaker of the House relative to the national budget insertions, and as well as the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) flood control projects.”
Hosaka explained that the information provided by Romualdez during the hearing was “helpful” as he was able to clarify his and his colleagues’ role in the deliberations on the national budget.
Cash trail
Remulla said the Office of the Ombudsman had found links to connect Escudero to the flood control mess, based on the cash trail.
“We have statements of a money trail leading to him, narrations of fact that are there already,” Remulla said. “But of course, we want to buttress it with other evidence that we’re looking at right now.”
Singson said their investigation into the anomalies in flood control projects would go “wherever it leads” them.
“It started way back,” he said. “It started in tiny bits in 2018, started to grow. When they perfected the system, it started in tremendous leaps and bounds,” Singson told reporters in the same press conference.
“The fact is that congressmen and senators are told by the DPWH on which district they can lay down their SOPs (standard operating procedure, used as code for kickbacks). It’s as clear as day,” he said.
“People were involved in the connivance that really brought this whole government machinery system [to] total breakdown.”
Whose money?
Remulla said the projects in Las Piñas and Bacoor “benefited the landowners of the area.”
“If you pass along that area (Zapote River Drive), you would know that it’s their (Villars’) property. If you’ll see the river wall, you’d ask who shouldered the expenses? Was it the government or was it them?” Remulla said.
“It’s as simple as that. So, we will determine that later on with the costing of the project completed,” he also said.
Remulla explained that the task force dedicated to the Villars will do “complete analysis” of the river drive project, or why it reportedly cost billions of pesos. The project spans from Bacoor, Cavite, to Muntinlupa City, passing through Las Piñas.
“That’s around 11 kilometers, the road itself,” he said. “So, this has to be examined by a specialized group. I think it should have been something done a long time ago. It will be a priority.”
He said the Villars would have to cooperate with the Ombudsman’s investigation—not just “if they want to.”
In a statement on Oct. 2, former DPWH Secretary and now Sen. Mark Villar said he would support any investigation into his alleged involvement in anomalous flood control projects, stressing he had “nothing to hide.”
A son of former Senators Manuel and Cynthia Villar and brother of Sen. Camille Villar, the lawmaker denied having any ownership or interest in companies participating in DPWH projects.
“The official record will confirm that none of my relatives acquired any contracts from 2016 to 2021, during my tenure as secretary,” he said.
Villar headed the DPWH from 2016 to 2021, during the Duterte administration. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
