Palace slams Ombudsman for hiding status of probe on Duterte ‘hidden wealth’

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque. INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

Why hide it?

Malacañang is annoyed with the Office of the Ombudsman for not promptly disclosing the status of its fact-finding probe into the alleged hidden wealth of President Duterte, according to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.

Roque said the President was wondering why the agency had not disclosed the development sooner.

“Even if the investigation was terminated and junked, why did the Ombudsman not announce it so that Sen. [Antonio] Trillanes would not keep on harping about it?” Roque said in a press briefing.

He pointed out that Trillanes, Mr. Duterte’s perennial critic, kept on talking about his allegations that the President had amassed millions in an undeclared bank account when all the while, the anti-graft agency had completed its investigation.

“The Ombudsman should have announced that because of lack of evidence, the investigation had been terminated, so that the controversy about the President’s alleged hidden wealth would die down,” he added.