MANILA — The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered lifestyle checks on 26 members of the House of Representatives who are allegedly involved in government contracting activities while serving in Congress, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said.

Clavano said the officials under scrutiny are part of an initial batch whose Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) have already been obtained by the Ombudsman, following intelligence reports flagging possible conflicts of interest.

“The first 26, we have already assigned them to the investigative teams to do lifestyle checks as well as further investigation. These are what we call ‘congtractors’,” Clavano said in a press conference.

“The SALNs that we were able to obtain are a result of intelligence that we’ve received that certain congressmen are also contractors and by law, [they] are prohibited from owning contracting firms that deal directly with the government,” he added.

Clavano said the Ombudsman is still awaiting the SALN of former House Deputy Secretary General Sofonias Gabonada.

“We are still waiting for the SALN of Ponyong Gabonada. That is the one that we want, and that is the one that we will proceed on. The second batch of SALN requests for House members is being prepared as far as we know,” he said.

Under Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, public servants are required to live modestly in accordance with their income and position, and are prohibited from displaying extravagant wealth.

Clavano said the ongoing review will focus on possible undeclared business interests and potential conflicts involving government contracts.

“We’ll look at the SALN and see if they have declared their interests in the companies that we believe are contracting companies that have had contracts with the government. That will first and foremost show that there is a conflict of interest,” he said.

“Secondly, we’ll see if their SALN entries are disproportionate to what they actually have,” he added.

He also said that any undeclared assets may lead to proceedings under Republic Act 1379 or the Civil Forfeiture Law for Public Officers, which allows the government to recover unexplained wealth.

“(Civil forfeiture) is an easier route for us because under 1379, the burden of proof to show that they have declared everything, and that all their assets are truly theirs, is on them [SALN] owners,” Clavano said.

Clavano said the Ombudsman is also exploring legal steps to dispose of two luxury vehicles turned over by former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan First District Engineering Office Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez, valued at a total of P53 million.

The vehicles were recently surrendered by the Independent Commission on Infrastructure, whose mandate ended on March 31.

“We want to preserve the value of the cars so we can return the amount to the public coffers. We want to sell the vehicles, but we’re still finding the legal mechanism to do so,” he said.

Unlike vehicles previously linked to contractor couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya, which were auctioned due to importation issues, Clavano said the Hernandez vehicles are not under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Customs and were voluntarily turned over.

Hernandez is among those facing malversation and graft charges in connection with an alleged P92.8-million ghost flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan.

Ombudsman prosecutors have so far filed three batches of cases related to alleged flood control anomalies since the investigation began in September 2025, including cases against former and current public officials and private contractors.