Panelo: Ombudsman may not probe Duterte for acts when he was mayor

 President Rodrigo Duterte may not be be investigated for crimes he allegedly committed when he was mayor of Davao City, the chief presidential legal counsel said on Tuesday.

Secretary Salvador Panelo told reporters that the investigation of the Office of the Ombudsman on Duterte’s wealth while being the incumbent President was “constitutionally impermissible.”

“As far as we're concerned, the President cannot be investigated on acts allegedly committed by him when he was mayor, because you circumvent, you short-circuited the Constitution by doing that because he cannot be sued while sitting as President,” Panelo said.

He said that Duterte, however, could still be investigated in connection with impeachment complaints.

“He can be investigated for purposes of filing impeachment if the acts subject of an investigation refer to his acts as President, not acts when he was not yet president,” Panelo said.

Duterte, however, is immune from any impeachment complaint until May 9, 2018 after the House of Representatives dismissed the impeachment rap filed by Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano.

The Office of the Ombudsman, led by Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang as authorized by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, announced that it had started its probe into Duterte's wealth.

Carandang said that documents turned over to the office by the Anti-Money Laundering Council showing the Dutertes' bank transaction records were similar to those gathered by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

AMLC said it had yet to release a report about Duterte's bank accounts.

Duterte, meanwhile, cried foul over the Ombudsman's selective justice and impartiality in handling cases under the office's jurisdiction.

While presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella earlier told reporters that Duterte would disclose his bank accounts "if necessary and at the right time," he said that some Ombudsman officials have shown its political color by being part of a destabilization plot against the administration.