Ombudsman denies being mouthpiece of Liberal Party

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on Tuesday denied being the mouthpiece of the ruling administration party, saying her only duty was to indict the corrupt officials in government.

Morales made the statement when sought for her reaction on the statement of Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance that the Ombudsman was being used by Liberal Party to go after its opponents.

The latest to be indicted was the opposition leader himself, Binay, who is set to face malversation, graft and falsification of public documents for his alleged role in rigging the procurement for the design and construction of the P2.2 billion Makati City car park building.

“I am not beholden to anyone. Bakit ako indebted? I was in fact very reluctant to accept the position,” said Morales, whose appointment to the Ombudsman after retiring from the Supreme Court was announced by President Benigno Aquino III himself in his 2011 State of the Nation address.

Aquino is the chair of Liberal Party.

“I don’t need this position to begin with. But since I’m already there, I have to see to it that I discharge my duties in accordance with the law,” she said.

Binay’s spokesperson Joey Salgado accused the Ombudsman of being the mouthpiece of the administration party after the office affirmed its graft and malversation indictment against Binay and his son Junjun, who was dismissed from public service for the administrative offense of dishonesty and misconduct.

READ: Binay camp: Ombudsman ‘fits into orchestrated effort of LP, Roxas’ 

Salgado said the Ombudsman timed the denial of Binay’s appeal in the graft indictment on Feb. 5, or four days before the start of the campaign period.

“Simply put, the move of the Ombudsman fits into the orchestrated effort of Mar Roxas, the LP and its allies including Roxas’ mouthpieces masquerading as Palace spokesmen, to attack the Vice President,” Salgado said.

“We have always expected these resolutions from a biased and partial Ombudsman,” he added.

The Ombudsman initially indicted Binay on Oct. 12 last year, or on the day he filed his certificate of candidacy with his running mate Sen. Gringo Honasan.

Morales said the timing was just coincidental in the Ombudsman’s graft indictment against Binay.

“Kung sasabihin nila pag hindi inaksyunan, sasabihing ang tagal aksyunan. Ngayon naman na inaksyunan, sasabihin nilang timing daw. That’s just mere coincidence. No such thing as timing,” Morales said.

Morales said the office would file the charges against the younger Binay before the Sandiganbayan “sometime this week.”

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman will file the charges against Binay after his term ends—unless he wins the presidency in May.

Morales said she would be leaving after the end of her term in 2018, leaving it to the next Ombudsman to decide on the charges against the Vice President under a possible Binay presidency. RC