Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on Friday vowed not to sit down on her investigation of the alleged liability of former President Benigno Aquino III in the Mamasapano incident.
In an interview with reporters after she received the Tandang Sora award from the Quezon City local government, Morales said the complaints against Aquino were still undergoing investigation.
“As far as the complaints against Aquino are concerned, syempre ini-investigate pa ‘yan. Hindi naman pwede instant i-assess mo may probable cause or may ground to conduct preliminary investigation,” Morales said at the sidelines of the awarding at the Tandang Sora shrine.
(As far as the complaints against Aquino are concerned, of course, those are still under investigation. You can’t instantly assess whether there is probable cause or grounds to conduct preliminary investigation.)
She said her office may wrap up its investigation this year or before she retires in 2018.
“Maybe this year, maybe next year… Huwag mo sabihin (Don’t say) it will take me one and a half years to conduct investigation, hindi naman siguro (probably not),” Morales said.
In accepting the Tandang Sora award, Morales said she hoped she had disproved her critics that her gender was a stumbling block to her duty as graft buster.
“More than five years into my term, I’d like to believe I have proven those detractors wrong,” Morales said.
Aquino faced a string of complaints from the families of the Special Action Force cops who were killed in the January 2015 anti-terror raid in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
READ: More SAF relatives file raps vs Aquino over Mamasapano
Aquino was sued before the Ombudsman for alleged reckless imprudence resulting in homicide for the botched anti-terror raid Oplan Exodus that claimed the lives of 44 elite cops.
He was also sued for alleged technical malversation with his budget chief Butch Abad for the savings impounding mechanism DAP, some practices of which were outlawed by the Supreme Court.
Aquino was earlier cleared by the Ombudsman of liability for the Mamasapano incident.
READ: Aquino cleared by Ombudsman probers in Mamasapano case
After she retired as Supreme Court justice, Morales was appointed by Aquino as Ombudsman in 2011.
A police Board of Inquiry said President Aquino bypassed the police chain of command when he authorized sacked SAF chief Getulio Napeñas and dismissed police chief Alan Purisima in the Mamasapano operation while keeping then acting police chief Leonardo Espina in the dark. He also bypassed the chain of command by authorizing Purisima, a personal friend, to oversee the operation despite the latter’s suspension. CDG/rga
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