Ombudsman eyes to finish 'pork' scam probe on solons by yearend

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on Thursday said they intend to finish by yearend all investigations concerning lawmakers in relation to the controversial multi-billion pork barrel scam.

“There are 240 congressmen mentioned in the COA (Commission on Audit) audit report. Ang dami-dami...We hope to finish all investigations by the end of the year,” Morales told reporters in an ambush interview.

“Some are undergoing fact-finding investigation, some are under preliminary investigation, some have been filed in court as you already know,” she added.

Morales explained that the Office of the Ombudsman prioritizes the complaints that involve big amounts.

“All are being investigated, we do it in accordance with the amount involved. The higher the amount, the higher the priority,” she said.

The last batch of cases filed in relation to the pork barrel scam was in August last year. Respondents included former and incumbent government officials.

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman also said President Rodrigo Duterte’s intent to revisit the alleged misuse of Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) allegedly masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles was “vague.”

“I don’t know what he means by revisited. To us, that’s vague. We are not worried because everything that we did is in accordance with law,” Morales said.

Last week, Duterte revealed that he had some “revealing things” to say about the pork barrel fund scam.

“Let us revisit the Napoles case. I have some revealing things to tell you about it. You just wait,” Duterte said, adding that it involves former Justice Secretary and now Senator Leila de Lima.

The Department of Justice said it was still awaiting for a formal order from Duterte regarding the matter. —KBK, GMA News