(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday accused Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales of illegally obtaining documents pertaining to his bank transaction history and called for her resignation.
“Mag-resign muna si Carpio because she’s corrupt at humahawak ng ebidensiya na kinuha nila na walang permiso sa AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council), illegally obtained,” Duterte said during the inauguration of Bahay Pag-asa in Marawi City.
He said the one behind this was a mistress of a colonel, noting that “they are using the paper as evidence.”
“They added everything like what they did to (Chief Justice Renato) Corona. But Corona was not given a chance really,” he said.
According to Duterte, only the court could order the AMLC to release documents “in connection with a case filed in court.”
As such, he said the Ombudsman needed to ask permission from the court first.
“Maski ang Ombudsman makahingi, but in connection with a pending case. Pero iyong nakawin mo (yung dokumento) tapos i-add-add mo every day,” he said.
Open bank accounts
In his speech, the President also challenged Morales and Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno to open their bank accounts to the public, and go with him to Congress where they could show the bank account contents to lawmakers.
He said this was so “the people will know who are thieves and who are not.”
“That’s my challenge to every government official and those who are pretending to be clean,” he said.
As for himself, he said the people “can shoot me, you can overthrow me if (they) want” if his wealth was more than P40 million.
He said his assets include lands he inherited from his father.
“It is a lifetime (of) savings. I’m 72 now, I started working when I was 27, I became prosecutor,” he said, noting that even when he was mayor of Davao, he has never been corrupt.
As for Morales, he said she was corrupt.
He said former Insp. Rolando Mendoza had complained of being charged with misconduct because he could not produce the money asked of him.
Mendoza, who in 2010 held hostage passengers of a tourist bus, killing eight of them, was later dismissed from the service.
“That’s how crooked the Ombudsman is,” he said, as he challenged it to “make public all cases you dismissed because of money.”