Ombudsman Boying Remulla revealed that he had long been monitoring the alleged activities of former Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin and former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, following accusations of “conspiracy to commit plunder.”
In an interview on Tuesday, November 18, Remulla said he was no longer surprised when former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo linked Bersamin’s name during the seventh hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee last Friday, November 14.
“The statement of Usec. Roberto Bernardo is not really surprising because I had my suspicions already before about the activities of Undersecretary Adrian Bersamin,” he said.
He added, “He was already on my radar for a long time and it’s a try that just got to learn about, later on, try to give him my radar and of course about the involvement of Amenah Pangandangan. I’m not surprised because there may be temptations on the side for them and I cannot conclude anything yet but it could have happened.”
Remulla also disclosed he had previous disagreements with former Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin — Adrian’s grandfather.
“Because I had a disagreement already with the ES because of his because of his grandson. I had a disagreement already because of his activities which I found suspicious already way back when they were interfering in many matters,” Remulla said.
“We had a certain disagreements already because there was an incident where I had to question a decision made by their office in releasing appointments not sought by my office and that became a spark in our relationship that kept us afar already after that,” he explained.
The Ombudsman stressed the importance of maintaining distance from individuals in powerful positions, particularly those close to the Executive Secretary.
“Because the behaviour of somebody close to the ES should not be countenanced by anybody especially his relative. At that time, I just let it go but I already knew that there was somebody capable of doing it.”
He also noted that the President’s leadership style — which delegates significant decision-making power — may have created opportunities for misconduct.
“Because everything is delegated to us, actually that’s the leadership style of the president. The power given to them to decide on many things may have been tempting because I did not want to suspect anything until it came to I point I have to think of how these things came to be,” Remulla emphasized.
As the investigation progresses, Remulla said they will continue examining any possible links between Bersamin and Pangandaman.
“Because when Zaldy Co said that matter, I said, there must be a resemblance of truth to it but I have to check more. But actually, it was the statement of Usec. Bernardo that really stuck to my head that there may have been a close relationship between Adrian and […] Secretary Pangandaman,” he concluded.
Both Lucas Bersamin and Amenah Pangandaman tendered their resignations on Monday, November 17, which were accepted by President Bongbong Marcos.