Duterte to ask Ombudsman to probe Gordon for malversation

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday evening that he will ask the Ombudsman to probe Senator Richard Gordon for malversation.

In a campaign rally of his party Partido Demokatiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in Agusan del Norte, Duterte brought up again Gordon’s alleged “disallowed” funds when he was the chair of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

“Sa (In the) [Commission on Audit], everyone in the government knows this, he borrowed P186 million when he was still in Subic. He diverted the P86 million to his personal account. When he submitted the liquidation, it was disallowed and so he received a notice of disallowance,” Duterte reiterated in Bisaya.

“After I exposed him, what he did was request for a re-audit again. So that’s why I’ll say this now because I won’t be President any longer, I will tell the Ombudsman to, you know, you start to investigate him for malversation. Even the Supreme Court said it was a notice of disallowance,” he added.

However, the claim has already been refuted by Gordon, saying he did not steal any funds and a case against him was already dismissed.

The president told the public to replace senators with existing cases as he supported the candidacies of those running PDP-Laban.

“The senators who have existing cases such as malversation of funds like Gordon, replace them,” he said.

EDV