Ombudsman, COA probing Malampaya fund ‘misuse’; Cases vs Reyes, others studied

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman and Commission on Audit (COA) are looking at the possible filing of at least 23 criminal cases against those involved in the alleged misuse of P1.782 billion in Malampaya funds in Palawan led by former governor Joel Reyes.

The joint probe has already reached the fact-finding stage and would proceed to the preliminary investigation that would determine what criminal charges would eventually be filed against who before the Sandiganbayan.

COA Chairperson Ma. Grace Pulido-Tan yesterday said the criminal offenses allegedly committed by Reyes and a number of other respondents range from violations of the Revised Penal Code, falsification of documents, violation of the Procurement Law, and graft.

She said the audit report on the Malampaya funds is a vital piece of evidence that the Office of the Ombudsman is going to use in the preliminary investigation.

“The audit report is basically the jump-off point,” she told reporters, saying there is nothing in the fact-finding investigation that attributed the fund misuse to former President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo even though the alleged anomaly happened during her administration.

Pulido-Tan said the joint Ombudsman-COA probe was effective as it discovered how government money was reported to have been used for projects which were either not really completed or actually inexistent.

She refused to give more details about the results of the fact-finding investigation so as not to preempt the Office of the Ombudsman.

She emphasized though that the partnership between the anti-graft agency and state auditors are bearing positive results.

She and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales formed the joint investigating team eight months ago in an effort to harmonize each other’s efforts to find graft and corruption in government.

The Office of the Ombudsman and COA listed at least 10 priority cases, including the Malampaya fund case and audits in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.