Stop prejudging the Ombudsman, lawmakers told

Office of the Ombudsman / Wikipedia Photo

MANILA — Senators Grace Poe and Nancy Binay were told not to “prejudge” the Office of the Ombudsman on the issue of allegedly irregular Metro Rail Transit (MRT) maintenance contract.

Lawmakers from the Liberal Party also asked them on Wednesday to stop injecting politics into the case.

“Some personalities are quick to prejudge the Ombudsman when in fact its action of filing a case is a laudable first step to clear all allegations surrounding the MRT-3 case,” said Quirino Rep. Dakila Cua, as quoted in a Philippine Daily Inquirer report.

“I respect Sen. Grace Poe and Sen. Nancy Binay but hearing them prejudge the Ombudsman’s seriousness in pursuing the case is not good at all,” he said of the two senators.

Cua made the statement following Binay and Poe’s criticisms against the Ombudsman for its resolution on the $11.5-million maintenance contract between the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) and Philippine Trans Rail Management and Services Corp. (PH Trams).

“I call on the two good members of the Senate to wait for the completion of the process before they give a verdict,” Cua said.

“We all want to finally find out what really happened. Now that the Ombudsman has a case, we will soon find out. Now is not the time to muddle the case with political propaganda and politically colored allegations and insinuations,” he added.