House will cooperate with Ombudsman’s probe of OVP, DepEd confi funds — Rep. Chua

House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability Chairperson Representative Joel Chua on Sunday assured his committee will cooperate with the Office of the Ombudsman’s investigation into the alleged misuse of confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education when Vice President Sara Duterte was its secretary.

Ombudsman Samuel Martires had warned that the committee may be cited in contempt if it does not cooperate with the investigation.

“Well, makakaasa po ang ating Ombudsman na tayo ay makikipag-cooperate. In fact, pagka nag-submit na po ng answer yung ating Bise Presidente, tayo po ay handang mag-submit ng ating replies at nang sa ganoon ay ia-attach na rin po natin ang iba pang mga transcript at mga iba pang mga dokumento na ebidensya po natin base po sa committee report,” Chua told GMA Integrated News on Sunday.

(“Well, the Ombudsman can expect we will cooperate. In fact, after the Vice President submits her answer, we are prepared to submit our replies so we could attach the transcripts and other documents that are our evidence based on the committee report,” Chua told GMA Integrated News.

Earlier, House Spokesperson Atty. Princess Abante said the House has not filed any complaint with the Ombudsman and that the House furnished Martires a copy of the recommendations of the committee after it concluded its investigation into the use of confidential funds. 

“Ang amin po kasi ay nagsumite po kami ng committee report sa plenaryo at cinopy-furnish po namin ang Ombudsman. So if the Ombudsman will treat it as a formal complaint, so be it,” Chua said.

(On our part, we have submitted a committee report to the plenary and we copy-furnished the Ombudsman.) 

The lawmaker said he is happy with the Ombudsman’s swift action on the committee report.

“Kami naman po ay natutuwa dahil ito po’y inaktuhan ng Ombudsman. At kami naman, bagamat wala pang ebidensya na naka-attach dito, inaksiyunan po nila agad-agad. So this is the first time yata na nangyari na ganito kabilis yung pag-action ng Ombudsman. But be that as it may, kami ay natutuwa at makakaasa po sila na kung anuman yung mga susunod na hakbang ay amin pong gagawin,” he stated.

(We are happy because the Ombudsman took action. For our part, despite no evidence has been attached they acted on it immediately.  So this is the first time I think the Ombudsman has responded this quickly. But be that as it may, we are happy and they can expect that whatever next steps that need to be taken we will accomplish.)

When asked how a possible dismissal of the complaint will affect the impeachment proceedings, Chua, who is one of the House prosecutors, replied, “Iba naman kasi ang basis sa impeachment complaint, iba rin naman ang basis sa criminal complaint. Sa criminal complaint kasi siyempre, yung beyond reasonable doubt bagamat sa Ombudsman ay probable cause muna lamang. Pero iba kasi yung bigat ng pagpapatunay. So tingnan natin.”

(“The basis of the impeachment complaint is different from the basis of the criminal complaint. For the criminal complaint, it is beyond reasonable doubt despite with the Ombudsman it is just probable cause. But the weight of proving it is another matter. So we will see.”) —RF, GMA Integrated News