FILE PHOTO: Ombudsman Samuel Martires. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — Ombudsman Samuel Martires on Sunday said his office has “no jurisdiction” to probe Vice President Sara Duterte’s 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 “is not immune from suit and she can be subject of any criminal and administrative case” and that it is within the Ombudsman’s authority to act on this matter.
Article continues after this advertisement“To us in the Office of the Ombudsman, this is a misleading statement — a disinformation to the public — 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,” Martires explained in a radio interview over dzBB.
FEATURED STORIES NEWSINFO Ombudsman: We have 'no jurisdiction' to probe VP Duterte's threats NEWSINFO PMA: 764 female military officers owe careers to Rasul NEWSINFO NBI urged to probe vloggers funded by Pogos, drug traders(To us in the Office of the Ombudsman, this is a misleading statement — a disinformation to the public — 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’s 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.
Article continues after this advertisement“We 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,” Martires pointed out.
Article continues after this advertisement(In this particular threats, are these utterances committed in relation to the Office of the Vice President? That is the question there.)
Article continues after this advertisementHe also addressed reports seemingly indicating a misunderstanding between the Office of the Ombudsman and the DOJ, particularly his “shut up” remark against Andres.
“May 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,” he said.
Article continues after this advertisement(There is a qualifier that if in Usec. Andres’ opinion we have jurisdiction, we ask him to shut up and we will take over because we investigate quietly.)
“Di 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,” he added.
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(We are not fighting. We are just hurt that they are saying this without consulting with usgold99, it’s like disinformation, it’s like publicly saying that we have the power so the Ombudsman should investigate what the Vice President said.)
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