The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) has ordered Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero to submit a counter affidavit to answer allegations in his supposed involvement on the alleged anomalous flood control projects, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said on Thursday, May 21.

Per Clavano, the case involving Escudero has already reached the preliminary investigation stage, with the Ombudsman panel now waiting for the senator’s response.

“‘Yung kay Sen. Chiz Escudero ay nasa preliminary investigation stage na. There was an order to submit a counter-affidavit na na-receive ng opisina ni Chiz Escudero. I believe yung panel po natin ay naghihintay na lang sa kanyang counter affidavit para unused na po ang prelim (The case involving Sen. Chiz Escudero is already at the preliminary investigation stage. There was an order to submit a counter affidavit which was received by the office of Chiz Escudero. I believe our panel is now just waiting for his counter affidavit before the preliminary investigation proceeds further),” Clavano said in a radio interview.

Clavano said the OMB continues to process several cases related to the alleged flood control anomalies, with some already under preliminary investigation while others remain under fact-finding and evidence gathering.

“All the cases ay tumatakbo, pending sa ating opisina ngayon. ‘Yung iba ay nasa preliminary investigation stage na. Yung iba may iba pang kailangan idagdag na ebidensya. Naghahanap kami ng mga witnesses, mga statements. Yung iba naghihintay kami ng ibang dokumento galing sa iba’t ibang ebidensya. Nandyan ‘yan and they are ripening up one by one (All the cases are moving and pending before our office now. Some are already at the preliminary investigation stage. Others still need additional evidence. We are looking for witnesses and statements. For others, we are waiting for more documents from various pieces of evidence. They are there and they are ripening up one by one),” he said.

In addition, Clavano said the cases involving former House Speaker Martin Romualdez have also reached the preliminary investigation stage.

“‘Yung kay former speaker Romualdez ay nasa preliminary investigation stage na din po. Ang una pong umabot sa stage na yun ay ang mga money laundering cases niya (The case involving former Speaker Romualdez is also already at the preliminary investigation stage. The first to reach that stage were the money laundering cases against him),” he said.

As such, the assistant ombudsman said the Ombudsman has already obtained Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) connected to subjects of the investigation, which are now being checked against government registries.

“Mayroon na kaming nakuhang mga SALN. Yung mga SALN na yun, ibabangga sa lahat ng registries, LRA, LTO, may ibang mga registries pa. Tapos titingnan kung tugma ba yung mga dineclare nila doon sa mga nakalista doon sa mga registries (We have already obtained some SALNs. These SALNs will be matched against all registries such as the LRA, LTO, and other registries. We will check whether what they declared matches the properties listed in those registries),” he said.

Asked if investigators had already seen possible irregularities, Clavano said: “Mayroon po. Na wala namang kapasidad na bumili (Yes. Some are under the names of individuals who seemingly have no capacity to purchase them).”