Clavano: Premature disclosure of ICI findings could impact Ombudsman flood control probe

The premature release of certain findings by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) could jeopardize the Office of the Ombudsman’s ongoing probe into the anomalous flood control projects, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said Tuesday.

Clavano was addressing the query as to the disclosure of the ICI findings since it turned over two trucks of physical documents to the Office of the Ombudsman’s further probe and evaluation last March 12, just a few days before the ICI’s tenure ended last March 31. 

“I would like to clarify that releasing the findings of the ICI would jeopardize some of the investigations here at the Office of the Ombudsman. However, we have already made public several parts of it. In fact, there are some interviews that were made public by the ICI. We have no problem with that,” Clavano said at a press conference.

“There are certain things that we cannot divulge yet for the purposes of [preserving] the integrity of the investigation,” Clavano added.

Likewise, Clavano said that the Ombudsman won’t be releasing information without good cause.

"The Ombudsman received voluminous ICI findings including transcript of interviews, affidavits, submissions by different agencies, not everything is useful, but those that are useful are quite confidential [at this point]. The transparency [concerning the existing confidential information] will happen in due time because we are still preparing the cases,” Clavano said.

“We are looking at different angles. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, and we also don't want other people to get ahead of themselves as well,” he added.

Publicized evidence

Back in February, Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen reminded Ombudsman prosecutors that publicized evidence does not always make the best evidence and as such, they should be able to secure the evidence that will stand in court.

“Sometimes there is a sacrifice between premature announcement—not by the Ombudsman, but premature announcement outside—and the actual effort that we all need to do in order to get evidence, discover it, maintain it, preserve it, and maintain the chain of custody. It is easy to accuse…someone will have 10 seconds of fame, you will be in newspapers, you’ll say you have this list, and all people will go after that list,” Leonen said during the Ombudsman’s strategic planning session in Baguio City where he served as one of the keynote speakers. 

“Later on, months after, when your prosecutors are presenting the evidence, they (defense) can now say that the computer already changed hands so many times. How sure are we that it was not modified? You see how difficult it is? And can you imagine the difficulty of a trial court judge when the evidence presented before them are inadmissible in evidence. The ones making announcements get fame but at the end of the day, true accountability is when we are able to truly convict beyond reasonable doubt,” Leonen added.

Ombudsman prosecutors have only filed three batches of flood control cases so far since the flood control probe was launched in September 2025. 

These are the following:  

• malversation and graft charges against resigned Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Zaldy Co and at least 15 others over the P289 million alleged substandard road dike project in Oriental Mindoro;
• malversation and graft charges against contractor Sarah Discaya and several others over the P96.5 million alleged ghost flood control project in Davao Occidental; and 
• malversation and graft charges against former Senator Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr., ex-Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez and five others over the alleged P92.8-million ghost flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan. 

— RSJ, GMA News