Lawyer Ade Fajardo, counsel for Leyte Rep. and former Speaker Martin Romualdez, called the Ombudsman’s 28 new witnesses in his flood control plunder case “distressing,” saying Romualdez should be given a chance to respond to their claims.
Fajardo noted that the Ombudsman disclosed the new witnesses after Orly Guteza, a former security aide of ex-lawmaker Elizaldy Co, recanted his statement that he delivered money to Romualdez’s house.
But he said that the witness statements should have already been included when the complaint was first filed.
“It seems to me that there is this effort to match the withdrawing numbers with new numbers, and that, to us, is distressing because once you initiate a complaint, the presumption is that your evidence is complete, that’s why you give the opportunity to the respondent to file his counter-affidavit and respond to all these things at the inception,” he said on Bilyonaryo News Channel’s “On Point.”
He said that if the Ombudsman would continue to introduce new evidence, Romualdez should be given a chance to respond to these for fairness.
“But if you move the goalposts, ginagalaw mo yung ring ng basketball, paano naman kami makaka-shoot, as the defense? I think they should afford us fairness and due process,” he said.
Asked if he thinks the Ombudsman has been fair to Romualdez, Fajardo noted that the lawmaker’s camp earlier sought the inhibition of Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla because of his apparent “particular interest” in the case.
But he said this has been declined, in effect, when Romualdez was asked to file his counter-affidavit.
He indicated that legal action may be pursued.
“There is a team that is now handling the grave abuse of discretion part of it,” he added.
Remulla earlier rejected the call for inhibition, saying prosecutors are supposed to side with the victims of crimes.
He said inhibition is about the fairness of the judicial process but his office has a different role, which is to prosecute wrongdoers.