Who wants the Ombudsman top posts?

The Davao boys

SEP 1, 2021 9:00 AM PHT
LIAN BUAN

(1st UPDATE) If the Ombudsman investigates the handling of billions of

pandemic funds, would ex-PS DBM director and now Overall Deputy
Ombudsman Warren Liong inhibit?

As President Rodrigo Duterte is set to pack the leadership posts of the

Office of the Ombudsman with his appointees, three officials with close ties
to him have attempted to get a coveted spot – in fact, one already succeeded.

These posts are crucial because it’s the Office the Ombudsman that
investigates government officials for possible graft and corruption,
including the President.
Anderson Lo

Malacañang Undersecretary Anderson Lo, currently with the Presidential

Management Staff (PMS), has been shortlisted to become the Deputy
Ombudsman for Mindanao.

If appointed, he will be the one to resolve complaints against Mindanao

officials, including potentially President Duterte’s children.

The shortlist was transmitted to the President on May 18.

On the same short list by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) are current
Ombudsman officials: investigation bureau director Beda Epres and
Assistant Ombudsman for Mindanao Maria Iluminada Lapid-Viva.

In a statement on August 21, Martires said all the shortlisted applicants for
Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao have his “full trust and confidence.”

“Nothing turned up derogatory in my vetting, no one has a record of graft

and corruption in their present and previous positions or employments,”
said Martires.

During Lo’s JBC interview in April, retired judge Franklin Demonteverde

asked Lo what his edge was over other applicants, given that, among the
them, he had the least government experience – his PMS post was his only
government gig so far.

“My advantage would be, I’m the youngest in terms of service in the
government, I could be hungrier, more excited to join and prove my worth,”
said Lo.

Lo said one of his tasks in the PMS was screening presidential appointments
– like what he is vying for.
Asked by retired justice Noel Tijam how he would prove his independence,
given his ties to Duterte, Lo said: “I have shown, I have remained to be, to
have integrity, to have honor, all these years, my performance and work
ethic that I put in my work.”

Lo pointed out that two other applicants had Davao City ties, having been
raised in the President’s hometown too. They were Davao City judges
Rowena Apao-Adlawan and Mario Duaves, who were not shortlisted.

Lo’s wife, Judge Jill Rose Jaugan-Lo, was Duterte’s first judicial
appointee for the Davao region. In a previous interview, Judge Lo identified
her husband as a “friend of Bong Go.”

Warren Liong

Duterte appointed his former legal consultant, Warren Liong, as Overall

Deputy Ombudsman (ODO) in November 2020.

Liong replaced Melchor Arthur Carandang as ODO. Carandang was fired by

Malacañang over his statements on the investigation into Duterte and the
first family’s wealth. That investigation was terminated because of a lack of
cooperation by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), but can be
revived anytime if the Ombudsman wants to.

Before being appointed as ODO, Liong was a director at the now-

controversial Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and
Management (PS-DBM).

PS-DBM is the subject of Senate investigations into pandemic funds. It

turned out PS-DBM awarded in 2020 at least P8.7 billion worth of deals to
Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation when the company only
incorporated in September 2019, with just P625,000 in paid-up capital.

A Rappler investigation has found that Pharmally Pharmaceutical is

connected to Duterte’s former economic adviser Michael Yang, through a
series of networks.

Liong did not sign the publicly-available notices of awards for Pharmally,
but he was among the recommending approvals for the annual
procurement plan (APP) that paved the way for those transactions.

ODO is a critical post because, in many instances, resolutions go through

the ODO for approval before these are raised to Ombudsman Samuel
Martires for a final check. In some resolutions involving low-ranking
officials, the ODO can be the final check.

If the Office of the Ombudsman does investigate the PS-DBM, will Liong
inhibit?

Before Duterte, Liong served as legal head of Philhealth Davao Regional

office.

Lloyd Christopher Lao

The embattled Lloyd Christopher Lao also applied for the ODO
post alongside Liong.

Lao withdrew his application, saying he would want to distance the Office
of the Ombudsman from “ridiculous rumors.” During this time, senators
were already questioning PS-DBM’s award of what they said were
overpriced items like test kits.

Lao used to work in Malacañang, in the office created by President Duterte

specially for now-Senator Bong Go – the Office of the Special Assistant to
the President. Go once again insisted on Tuesday, August 31, that he was
not close to Lao.

After Malacañang, Lao moved to the Housing and Land Use Regulatory
Board (HLURB) as its chief executive officer (CEO). There, he was accused
of an extortion racket – a complaint he said he didn’t know about. By
January 2020, he was head of the PS-DBM.

In a taped speech aired Tuesday, Duterte said he appointed Lao to critical

posts because the President owed him. Lao was on Duterte’s 2016
presidential campaign team.

“Ano’ng masama kung magbayad ako ng utang?” said Duterte. (What’s

wrong if I pay them back?)

The Office of the Ombudsman is yet to make a definitive move to investigate

the several issues hounding the handling of pandemic funds, as Justice
Secretary Menardo Guevarra says any probe they will do will have to take
the cue from the Ombudsman.

Senate blue ribbon committee chairman Senator Richard Gordon said they
may end up investigating Duterte and Go, too. – Rappler.com

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https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/inside-track/who-wants-get-
ombudsman-top-posts-davao-boys-lao-liong-lo/