Miriam: Let axe fall on 2 Cabinet execs, Ombudsman over road corruption mess

(Updated 1:52 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines - Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago on Tuesday said her committee will recommend the dismissal of two Cabinet secretaries as well as the initiation of an impeachment proceedings against the Ombudsman for their alleged inaction over the World Bank report on the rigging of government bids. "Sa report ng aking committee ay imumungkahi ko na irekomenda kay President (Gloria Macapagal) Arroyo na tanggalin si (Finance Secretary Margarito) Teves, i-impeach ang Ombudsman (Merceditas Gutierrez) at tanggalin ang Public Works (Secretary Hermogenes Jr) Ebdane para madisiplina sila," Santiago said in a news conference. ["My committee report will recommend to President Arroyo the sacking of Finance Secretary Margarito Teves and Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane and (endorse) the impeachment against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez."] "If you make heads roll that will certainly serve as a deterrent if we want to stop collusion among contractors. If you remove people from their offices, it sends a very clear message that [the] President will not countenance corruption in her administration," Santiago said. Santiago said the three officials already knew of the investigation being conducted by the World Bank on the three companies as early as November 2007 and yet, failed to act on it. "It could be that the President's judgment could be wrong but that is a risk we have to take," she said, adding that should President Arroyo refuse to heed her call, the President will have to take responsibility for her actions. "The legislative branch has no power to compel the President to remove or appoint somebody in her Cabinet. She will have to assume moral responsibility before the Filipino public," Santiago added. Of the three officials, only Ebdane was present in Tuesday's hearing which further angered the senator. Santiago chairs the Senate committee on economic affairs. Santiago said Teves sent her a letter saying that he will not be able to attend the hearing as he has a prior commitment. She said this is unacceptable. No representative "He didn't even bother to send an undersecretary with a proper document when he already knows that it is about the blacklisting of three Filipino companies," Santiago said. She said the Ombudsman did not come and did not send a representative claiming that a preliminary investigation on the matter is ongoing. She said Gutierrez claimed in a letter that there is a rule within the Ombudsman that while a preliminary is underway there can be no disclosure of the personalities or the events that are under investigation. "Is she claiming that the Ombudsman is higher than the Philippine Senate? Is that her claim?" Santiago asked. She argued that the investigation being conducted by the Ombudsman is already past the prescribed period required by the Department of Justice. "If I remember correctly, the Justice department requires prosecutors to finish the preliminary investigation in three months time. The report was given to the Ombudsman in November 2007, it is way past three months time until now she is still investigating?" Santiago said. The senator said the DPWH, on the other hand, said that it is yet to identify the fixers in the department who colluded with the firms. Santiago said the Senate investigation was "an exercise in futility" as resource persons stonewalled the committee and refused to say anything. "That was laughable, everybody said they were not guilty but the following are prima-facie guilty," Santiago said referring to Teves, Gutierrez and Ebdane. - GMANews.TV