Ombudsman Remulla set to file first case in flood control mess next month

New Ombudsman Jesus Crispin C. Remulla said his office will file before the Sandiganbayan this November the first case involving the anomalous flood control projects in the country.

- By CZARINA NICOLE ONG KI

In a press briefing, Remulla said the first complaint involving “ghost” flood control projects in Bulacan is now under preliminary investigation preparatory to the filing in court.

He said the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) knows that the flood control scam is an “urgent matter to be resolved” so they are treating it with the urgency it deserves.

Citing an expression he often used as the secretary of justice, Remulla said: "Our deadline was already yesterday."

Reports stated that there are hundreds of individuals implicated in the ghost flood control projects with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), with 67 congressmen who are contractors or "congtractors" who reportedly benefited from the scam.

Remulla said they have gathered enough evidence to easily charge 12 to 15 of them. "We are being realistic. Our job is to prove it in courts," he stressed.

Remulla also disclosed that an individual has been considered as a state witness whose name will be revealed later.