Duterte threatens ombudsman as it launches probe into his wealth

ombudsman
President Duterte has said he is considering setting up an investigation into corruption at the office of the ombudsman, just one day after the body announced it was investigating his family’s wealth

President Duterte has said he may investigate the Ombudsman for corruption — just one day after the office said it was probing his wealth.

Speaking during an interview on the state-run People’s Television today (Thursday, September 28) the president said: “The Office of the Ombudsman always insists it’s a corrupt-free body.

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“Better ask the military, the Filipino people, asked the military personnel who had been charged and they would they tell you the amount they paid to have their cases dropped.”

When asked if the office was still corrupt, he replied: “Yes, sure.

“You’ll be investigated also. One of these days I will go after you because of your partiality.

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“If you don’t police your ranks I will set up a commission to investigate you as a president with investigating powers.

“We will be in big trouble because who will check your abuses. Do not force my hands into it. I will set up a commission to investigate the ombudsman, institution itself.”

He also claimed that he had been asked for bribes by the Ombudsman when he was Mayor of Davao City. After refusing to pay up, he said, his case was later dismissed by the Supreme Court.

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Ombudsman probes family wealth

The president’s threat comes after the Ombudsman announced it had started its probe into the alleged multi-billion peso wealth of the president and his family after Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s complaint was found to have sufficient basis. (Read our report here)

Ombudsman Chairman Conchita Carpio-Morales has the investigation to Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang, because she is related to the Duterte family by marriage.

Carandang said that initial bank records show the flow of money through deposits and withdrawals from the president’s sons, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo and Sebastian “Baste,” and his joint accounts with his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte. He added that the accounts of Duterte’s common-law wife, Honeylet Avancena, and their daughter, Kitty, were also included in the records obtained by the Ombudsman.