Ombudsman pressuring COA on Binay—UNA

The Ombudsman is pressuring the Commission on Audit (COA) to release and transmit to the antigraft body an incomplete special audit report on Makati City Hall Building II in a bid to derail Vice President Jejomar C. Binay’s candidacy for President, the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) said on Saturday.

“We have been informed that the Ombudsman has been personally calling up COA officials telling them to transmit to her office its special audit report on Makati City Hall Building II even if the report does not include the replies or comments of City Hall officials,” UNA president Toby Tiangco said in a statement.

“In so doing, the Ombudsman wants the COA to effectively discard the findings of 11 audits, including one conducted by technical specialists, which concluded there was no overpricing and that the project complied with COA regulations,” he said.

Tiangco said the COA would violate its own policy that no special audits should be done against candidates running in the May 9 national elections.

“It will also be in direct contravention of COA Resolution No. 2015-033  dated Sept. 29, 2015, prohibiting the conduct of special audit against candidates in the 2016 elections,” he said.

Citing COA insiders, Tiangco said Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, before leaving on an overseas trip, called up a ranking COA official and demanded the audit report be released immediately.

Tiangco said Morales’ action bolstered UNA’s claim that the Ombudsman was blatantly impartial in handling complaints involving the Vice President and members of his family.

“The Ombudsman represents an administration that has a track record of flouting the law and the Constitution in bringing down its political enemies while ignoring, aiding and abetting unlawful acts of its partymates and allies,” he said.

Tiangco said he was not surprised that the Ombudsman was intent on releasing the incomplete report, which would be used to file plunder charges against the Vice President after his term and his son, fired Makati Mayor Junjun Binay.

“While there is no justification or excuse for behavior like this, it is not surprising. If it involves the Vice President and his family, the Ombudsman moves fast even if the action is against the law and its own policies,” Tiangco said.

“In stark contrast, the COA and the Ombudsman are pussyfooting on [their] reports on the PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) and the DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program). [Up to] now, the COA has yet to release its complete PDAF audit covering the Aquino administration,” he added.

“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,” he he said.

Thirty-eight members of the ruling Liberal Party (LP) were implicated in the PDAF scam.

“The COA has yet to finish its report on the PDAF because many members of the LP and allies of the administration are involved,” Tiangco said.

“In the case of the DAP, where the Supreme Court already made a ruling of bad faith on the part of [Budget] Secretary (Florencio) Abad, there is no COA referral to the Ombudsman,” he said.