Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said that before the Marcos administration came in, Davao City was the “epicenter of flood control” and his office would look into this, citing the funds that went to the area.
Remulla made the statement in response to a question from ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, who asked if the Ombudsman is looking into flood control corruption issues in the Duterte administration.
Tinio said flood control corruption did not begin during the Marcos administration since back in 2018, there were already allegations of insertions and ghost projects.
Remulla said the probe is being carried out.
“Hindi lang ho madali talaga sapagkat sabihin natin, ang epicenter ng flood control bago ho dumating ang Marcos administration ay Davao City,” he said during his office’s budget hearing at the House of Representatives.
“Ang ecosystem of corruption po mabigat. Mahirap pong pasukin, mahirap pong kumuha ng impormasyon. Marami hong taong hindi nagsasalita pero hindi ho kami tumitigil,” he added.
He said Davao was the ecosystem he was referring to.
“Doon ho maraming pondo na pumasok daw sa flood control. Iyan po yung aming kinakalap ng husto,” he said.
When Tinio said it was clear from his statement Davao City was the epicenter of flood control corruption in the previous administration, Remulla said he would not draw that conclusion immediately.
“Ito po’y pinag-aaralan namin kasi ang mahalaga po, makita namin ang ebidensiya sa ground,” he said.
He also said the Office of the Ombudsman is looking into another province to see if there is a pattern.
The Ombudsman is currently investigating complaints about an alleged kickback scheme involving money taken from flood control allocations during the Marcos administration and funneled to project proponents and other officials.