Ombudsman to take off from Senate probe

Even as the Office of the Ombudsman is embarking on a separate investigation on the alleged jueteng payoff controversy, Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo said his investigators will be taking off from where the Senate inquiry has started.

"We’ll take off from there (Senate probe). But we’ll have to wait for it to be finished," Marcelo told The STAR.

He said if the witnesses in the Senate investigation will come forward, they "will feel comfortable with us" in filing their sworn statements and presentation of their evidence.

Marcelo cited the case of the Senate inquiry over the Retirement Separation and Benefits System (RSBS) scam in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) where the Senate Blue Ribbon committee then headed by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. had been "very helpful" to the Ombudsman.

"I hope it will be the same thing again," he said.

Marcelo made the statement during the fellowship night of the Harvard Law School Association of the Philippines where the Ombudsman was the guest along with Finance Undersecretary Noel Bonoan.

The gathering was arranged Sylvette Tongkiang, senior partner of Villaraza Law Office.

Marcelo clarified though that they are still pursuing the investigation against presidential son and Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo and Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo, brother-in-law of President Arroyo. — Delon Porcalla