MANILA – The Office of the Ombudsman said it is conducting fact-finding on matters involving Vice President Sara Duterte, while taking into account the ongoing impeachment proceedings before the Senate, Assistant Ombudsman Jose Dominic Clavano IV said.

In a media report, it said that Clavano said the agency is closely observing developments in the impeachment trial, where evidence is expected to be presented by prosecutors, before determining whether any issues fall within its jurisdiction.

“May fact-finding pa din po tayo. Although siyempre po dahil pasimula na yung impeachment trial, ayaw namin makisabay yung investigation dahil ipe-present din ng prosecution yung evidence po. So titignan natin yung paglatag ng ebidensya doon. Kung meron po talaga tayo makikita under jurisdiction ng Office of the Ombudsman, tsaka namin pag-usapan po (We still have fact-finding. But since the impeachment trial is about to start, we do not want to overlap with the investigation because the prosecution will also present evidence. We will look at how the evidence is laid out there. If we find anything under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Ombudsman, that is when we will discuss it),” Clavano said in a DZMM interview.

He said the office is reviewing matters covered by the four articles of impeachment.

Clavano added that some allegations fall outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction, including grave threats.

He also said the office is assessing whether it has jurisdiction over statements made by Ramil Madriaga, a self-confessed former aide of the Duterte family, as well as alleged bank accounts linked to the issue.

On the issue of vice presidential immunity, Clavano said this is being carefully studied given the political sensitivity of the case.

“Yung nagiging legal issue po, yung immunity ng isang vice president. So pinag-aaralan namin nang husto yun. At lalo na ngayon na mainit po yung politika, ayaw din naming masyadong diinin pa. Anyway may impeachment trial. And that is a purely political process (The legal issue now is the immunity of a vice president. We are studying that carefully. And especially now that politics is heated, we do not want to push too hard. There is an impeachment trial anyway, and that is a purely political process),” he said.

Clavano said the Ombudsman will wait for the presentation of evidence in the impeachment proceedings before deciding on possible next steps.