Panelo reminds Ombudsman: You can't reveal details from ongoing Duterte probe

 Chief presidential legal counsel Sec. Salvador Panelo on Thursday reminded Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang that he could face administrative sanctions for divulging records of President Rodrigo Duterte’s bank accounts in news reports.

“We would like to remind the good [Overall Deputy Ombudsman] that under the rules implementing the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Official and Employees or Republic Act No. 6713 — prohibits disclosure of records of an ongoing case insofar as it would deprive a respondent of a fair trial,” he told reporters in Malacañang.

“While we are open — in fact — we welcome the investigation, any premature disclosure would and might impair the right of the respondent to a fair trial because you create certain images and impressions that may not be entirely correct,” he added.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales had authorized Carandang to act on Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s complaint on the alleged multi-billion-peso wealth of President Rodrigo Duterte and his family.

Carandang was quoted as saying that initial bank records obtained by his office from the Anti-Money Laundering Council show the flow of money through deposits and withdrawals from Duterte's sons, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo and Sebastian "Baste," and his joint accounts with his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/627501/duterte-wealth-documents-from-amlc-similar-to-what-trillanes-has-ombudsman/story/

He said the accounts of Duterte's common-law wife, Honeylet Avancena, and their daughter, Kitty, were also included in the records obtained by the Ombudsman.

“It is noteworthy to mention that the alleged bank records of the President, assuming for the sake of argument that they are correct, do not necessarily indicate that he is hiding money in the total amount of more that P1 billion, and that the same is ill-gotten,” Panelo said.

“The alleged amount was computed based in ‘in-and-out’ bank transactions of the President's family through the years. Hence, this does not sufficiently prove that the President has accumulated money in the total amount of more than P1 billion at any given time,” he added.

The presidential lawyer also said that Duterte was nonetheless “not perturbed” by this development.

“The President has been challenging his detractors to prove their accusation and not to use media to spread false news and innuendos against him and his family,” he said.