FILE PHOTO: Ombudsman Samuel Martires. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Ombudsman Samuel Martires on Sunday said his office has 鈥渘o jurisdiction鈥� to probe Vice President Sara Duterte鈥檚 alleged kill threat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez should she be assassinated.
Martires made the clarification when asked about the statement of Department of Justice (DOJ) Undersecretary Jesse Andres that Duterte 鈥渋s not immune from suit and she can be subject of any criminal and administrative case鈥� and that it is within the Ombudsman鈥檚 authority to act on this matter.
鈥淭o us in the Office of the Ombudsman, this is a misleading statement 鈥� a disinformation to the public 鈥� that the particular utterances of Vice President Sara Duterte na ipapatay ang presidente, asawa ng president, and speaker of the House ay parang sinasabi ni Andres na meron kaming jurisdiction to investigate administratively and criminally. This is disinformation because these utterances of the vice president are private in character, personal sa kanya so wala kaming jurisdiction doon,鈥� Martires explained in a radio interview over dzBB.
(To us in the Office of the Ombudsman, this is a misleading statement 鈥� a disinformation to the public 鈥� that the particular utterances of Vice President Sara Duterte to kill the president, his wife, and the speaker of the House, it seemed like Andres is saying that we have jurisdiction to investigate administratively and criminally. This is disinformation because Duterte鈥檚 utterances are private in character, it is personal so we have no jurisdiction there.)
He explained that the Ombudsman mainly probes cases committed under the Republic Act (RA) 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and offenses under the Revised Penal Code related to RA 3019.
鈥淲e can also investigate offenses committed in relation to office. Dito sa particular threats na ito is this committed are these utterances in relation to the Office of the Vice President? Yun ang tanong don eh,鈥� Martires pointed out.
(In this particular threats, are these utterances committed in relation to the Office of the Vice President? That is the question there.)
He also addressed reports seemingly indicating a misunderstanding between the Office of the Ombudsman and the DOJ, particularly his 鈥渟hut up鈥� remark against Andres.
鈥淢ay qualifier na kung sa opinion ni Usec. Andres meron kaming jurisdiction, pakiusap ko lang tumahimik ka para kami ang mag-take over sa investigation dahil kapag kami nag-imbestiga tahimik lang kami,鈥� he said.
(There is a qualifier that if in Usec. Andres鈥� opinion we have jurisdiction, we ask him to shut up and we will take over because we investigate quietly.)
鈥淒i kami nakikipag-away. Nasaktan lang kami parang pinangungunahan kami, parang disinformation, parang sinasabi sa publiko na merong power ang Ombudsman so dapat mag-imbestiga din sila tungkol sa sinabi ni Vice President,鈥� he added.
(We are not fighting. We are just hurt that they are saying this without consulting with us, it鈥檚 like disinformation, it鈥檚 like publicly saying that we have the power so the Ombudsman should investigate what the Vice President said.)