Ombudsman rapped for ‘faulty’ fertilizer charge sheet | ABS-CBN News | Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features.

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‘Charges rushed for show,’ says congressman-prosecutor

MANILA, Philippines – A Malacañang spokesman on Wednesday questioned the Ombudsman’s decision to include a Senate witness and a dead person among the list of personalities facing plunder charges for the P728 million fertilizer fund scam.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the inclusion of Senate whistleblower Jose Barredo and the late agriculture official Gumersindo Lasam in the charge sheet showed a lack of due diligence on the part of the Ombudsman in preparing the charges.

“Obviously the Senate committee report didn’t recommend charges against Barredo. It’s clear they didn’t look at the Senate committee report properly,” he told reporters.

He said the filing of charges against Lasam, who was killed 2 years ago, happened because of the “long delay in reviewing the case, this fell through the cracks.”

“Clearly they failed to observe due diligence when they filed the charge sheet,” he said.

Barredo has decried his inclusion in the charge sheet, saying that he lost his job, had family problems, and suffered depression after testifying in the Senate.

Barredo had testified that he distributed the fertilizer fund among congressmen, governors and mayors at the height of the 2004 presidential election campaign.

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