Ombudsman conducting fact-finding probe on Trillanes' plunder complaint vs. VP Sara

The plunder, malversation, and graft complaints filed by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV against Vice President Sara Duterte over alleged misuse of billions worth of confidential funds are undergoing fact-finding investigation before the Office of the Ombudsman.

“The complaints are undergoing fact-finding already. The process here is that after fact-finding, it moves on to preliminary investigation,” said Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano on Tuesday.

Clavano was referring to complaints filed in January, which covers Duterte's actions when she was still a mayor of Davao City and later as Vice President and education secretary.

Clavano, however, said there is no hard-and-fast rule in filing cases against an incumbent Vice President who is an impeachable official.

“There are some legal questions regarding the immunity from suit of the Vice President. What we're trying to figure out now, kung kailangan ba natin i-endorse dito sa Congress or doon na ba sa Senate. We will have to see,” Clavano said.

(We are evaluating if we should endorse our findings to Congress or to the Senate.)

The allegations stated in the Trillanes et.al complaint include:

• plunder and malversation of at least P650 million confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd);
• plunder and malversation of P2.7 billion of Davao City’s confidential funds during her term as mayor;
• graft and malversation of P8 billion worth of overpriced laptops during her term as DepEd secretary;
• graft and gross incompetence over Notice of Disallowance issued by the Commission on Audit covering P12 billion of DepEd funds during the Vice President’s term as Education chief;
• graft due to the P7 billion unliquidated cash advances during her term as DepEd secretary;
• graft and gross incompetence over the construction of 192 out of target 6,000 classrooms;
• accumulation of ill-gotten wealth and non-declaration in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) of more than P2 billion of deposits and other assets;
• bribery and corruption due to receiving money from a drug lord several times during her term as Davao City mayor; and
• being unfit to hold public office and betrayal of public trust due to the two incidents of public meltdown while threatening to kill President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. 

'Madriaga factor'

Clavano, however, could not say yet if the expected testimony of Ramil Madriaga, who identified himself as a former aide of Duterte, before the House committee on justice on Tuesday for the impeachment proceedings against the Vice President would carry weight in ongoing Ombudsman investigations on the Vice President.

“The best we could do is monitor his statements. Because this will be the first time, I believe, that he will publicly testify,” Clavano said. —VAL, GMA News