Malampaya probe findings out before year ends – Morales

By: Marc Jayson Cayabyab - 8 years ago

The Malampaya gas platform located 80 kilometers northwest of the coast of Palawan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales on Tuesday said the anti-corruption office would release its findings on the Malampaya fund scam before the year ends.

During the Meet the Inquirer forum, Morales said she has returned the initial findings on the Malampaya to the investigating panel and hopes the panel would return to her the report for approval on or before December 15.

Morales, however, was mum if the indictment would involve all the way up to then president now Pampanga congresswoman Gloria Arroyo, who allegedly signed the executive order authorizing the release of the said energy funds intended for aid for storm victims but instead went to ghost projects.

“We’re about to release the resolution, but there were some aspects which we noticed would affect the result of the resolution… The report was supposed to be submitted December 15, but I assure you that I follow that up every now and then,” Morales said.

Morales also declined to confirm if socialite Ruby Tuason would be implicated in the Malampaya scam.

Tuason was given immunity in the pork barrel scam case for testifying in the plunder case of former senator Jinggoy Estrada. She has admitted to delivering millions of kickbacks for Estrada from alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

But she was not given immunity in so far as the Malampaya fund scam is concerned, Morales said.

“She was given immunity in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) cases. If and when we should find her probably guilty, then we file a case in court because she’s not given immunity. Though she asked for it, we did not [grant her one],” Morales said.

READ: Ruby Tuason: I’m not involved in Malampaya fund scam

The Malampaya scam involved the alleged diversion of proceeds from the gas project off Palawan to spurious beneficiaries. The amount, around P900 million and allotted for the rehabilitation of farms in 97 towns devastated by typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng,” was allegedly siphoned off and channeled to questionable foundations, mostly associated with Napoles.

Tuason was implicated as receiving P242.775 million from Malampaya for a still unknown recipient. Whistleblower Benhur Luy has testified Tuason received an advance rebate of P18 million from the Malampaya fund.

READ: Tuason got P18M from Malampaya fund, Luy tells court

In her affidavit, Napoles tagged Tuason as showing her a list of government funds amounting to P25 billion, and recommending the P900 million Malampaya fund that would be coursed through the Department of Agrarian Reform to earn kickbacks.

The Malampaya fund scam is the last living corruption complaint to hound Arroyo after her plunder and graft cases were dismissed by the court.

Arroyo was recently freed from hospital detention after the Supreme Court dismissed her plunder case over the alleged misuse of P366 million intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) from 2008 to 2010.

Her graft and breach of ethics cases involving the allegedly overpriced National Broadband Network (NBN) deal with Chinese firm ZTE were also dismissed by the Sandiganbayan.

Morales earlier said Arroyo is not yet off the hook in the PCSO case, as she is being investigated for plunder and malversation in the alleged misuse of P57 million PCSO intelligence funds covering an earlier period of 2004 to 2007.