Plunder Saga:Where will the ax fall next?

Is the Office of the Ombudsman really independent as the Constitution says it should be and will it let the chips fall where they may?

      

That's the question  now being asked in light of the recent pronouncement of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales that her office would resolve within this month the plunder cases against Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and other officials in connection with the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

      

As the Supreme Court has already declared the PDAF and DAP as unconstitutional, what the Office of the Ombudsman  will say on the plunder cases involving the alleged misuse of taxpayers' money is now much-awaited.

      

At least two plunder cases have been filed by partylist groups before the Ombudsman. One of the complaints alleges that Abad “systematically misappropriated, converted, misused, and malversed public funds” through his involvement in both the DAP and the PDAF cases. The other plunder case cited state audits of the National Agri-Business Corporation or Nabcor, a government corporation under the agriculture department, that found at least P1.35 billion worth of PDAF funds had been coursed through "shady non-government organizations in the name of farmers’ socio-economic programs."

      

Will the Office of the Ombudsman dismiss these plunder cases outright as baseless and invite criticism that it practices selective justice? Or will it indict the big fish and show that it is doing its job of curbing corruption without fear or favor? Abangan.  –End-

Image by: newsinfo.inquirer.net