Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales on Tuesday assured the Senate impeachment court that she will not be used for personal vendetta, in the wake of her decision to pursue a probe of Chief Justice Renato Corona’s assets that include alleged multi-million dollar accounts.
“I will not jeopardize my 40 years in government service—spotless, I will be modest to say that—just to be a tool for anyone to get back at certain persons,” she said during Corona’s impeachment trial.
Morales gave the assurance after several senator-judges expressed fears that the Ombudsman will use her broad powers to persecute perceived enemies of the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, who appointed Morales to her current post in July 2011.
Aquino has been critical of Corona ever since the latter's controversial "midnight appointment" as Chief Justice by his predecessor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a few weeks before she stepped down in June 2010. Arroyo is currently under hospital arrest for alleged electoral fraud.
“Paminsan-minsan, naglalaro po sa aking isipan na your office will be used on adversaries of the administration… Huwag naman po sana gamitin sa mga kritikal lamang sa administrasyon,” Senate Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada told Morales during the trial.
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, meanwhile, urged the Ombudsman to maintain “balance” in using her power to investigate the assets of government officials.
“There’s been a lot of talk about balance here, especially among us, senator-judges. We do not want an administration going after just its enemies,” he said.
Corona singled out?
Senator Gregorio Honasan quizzed Morales if her office “singled out” Corona when it performed a probe on his assets. In particular, the senator asked the Ombudsman how many times her office had requested assistance from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) in checking an official’s bank transactions.
Morales said Corona’s case was the first time she asked for the AMLC’s help since she assumed her post as an Ombudsman less than a year ago. However, Morales asserted that she is ready to probe even incumbent officials of the Aquino administration if warranted.
“For as long as there are leads that these charges are meritorious, then we will do it,” said Morales, who is also a retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
On Monday, Morales detailed before the impeachment court Corona’s alleged 82 dollar accounts, where the chief magistrate supposedly made “circuitous fund movements.”
In a statement to the media, Corona described the presentation of Morales as a "lantern of lies" and challenged her to resign if her testimony is proven to be false. - YA, GMA News
