A leader of the opposition on Saturday claimed that Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales allegedly called up a Commission on Audit (COA) official to convince them to release and transmit to her office an "incomplete" special audit report on the alleged overpriced construction of the Makati City Hall Building 2.
Citing COA insiders, United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) president and Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco said Morales allegedly demanded in a call prior to her overseas trip that the audit report be released immediately even if the document does not include the side of Makati City Hall officials.
“In so doing, the Ombudsman wants COA to effectively discard the findings of 11 audits, including one conducted by technical specialists, which concluded there was no overpricing and that the said project complied with COA regulations,” he added.
Tiangco said the COA would violate its own policy passed in September 2015 that no special audits should be done against candidates running for the May 9 elections.
Binay is seeking the presidency.
The UNA official said Morales' supposed action only shows that she is not fair when handling complaints involving the Vice President and members of his family.
He is also not surprised that the Ombudsman is intent on releasing the "incomplete" report, which can be used to file plunder charges against the Vice President after his term and son, dismissed Makati mayor Junjun Binay.
The younger Binay is already facing graft and falsification of public documents cases before the Sandiganbayan because of the anomaly.
“In stark contrast, the COA and Ombudsman are pussyfooting on its reports on the PDAF [Priority Development Assistance Fund] and DAP [Disbursement Acceleration Program]. Until now, COA has yet to release its complete PDAF audit covering the Aquino administration,” Tiangco said.
“The Ombudsman, on the other hand, is sitting on its hand and has failed to even consider taking action against those involved in the DAP scandal which has been declared unlawful and unconstitutional by the Supreme Court,” he further said.
Thirty-eight members of the Liberal Party were implicated in the PDAF scam, which has caused the filing of cases and imprisonment of opposition figures like Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile and Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr.
“Ang report sa PDAF hanggang ngayon hindi pa tinatapos ng COA dahil maraming miyembro ng LP at kaalyado ng administrasyon ang mahahagip. In the case of DAP, where the Supreme Court already made a ruling of bad faith on the part of Secretary Abad, there is no COA referral to the Ombudsman,” Tiangco said.
“Hindi na nakakagulat ang ganitong galaw ng Ombudsman. Halatang-halata na sangkot sila sa mga naninira kay Vice President Binay upang pigilan siya na ipatupad ang mga maka-mahirap na programa na nagawa na nya at gagawin pa,” he added.
Morales had repeatedly insisted on her impartiality and that she has not given favors to allies of President Benigno Aquino III, who appointed her to the post in 2011 after retiring from the Supreme Court.
GMA News Online sought a reaction from acting Ombudsman media relations bureau chief Mary Rawnsle Lopez but she has yet to reply as of posting time.
- See more at: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/557926/news/nation/una-exec-claims-ombudsman-pressed-coa-to-release-incomplete-audit-report-on-makati-city-hall-anomaly#sthash.UX7KecKq.dpuf
