The Office of the Ombudsman has filed 14 counts of graft against USWAG Ilonggo Party-list Rep. James Ang Jr. before the Sandiganbayan over his alleged beneficial ownership of a construction firm that bagged government infrastructure projects.
Ang, according to Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano, received nearly P199 million in payments from a construction firm he holds a stake after it secured P214 million worth of contracts from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
“The Constitution is clear: no lawmaker may be financially interested in a government contract during his term,” he stressed.
“Conflict of interest is not a gray area. It does not require proof that a deal was rigged or that cash changed hands – only that a public official profited, or stood to profit, from a government contract while in office,” Clavano added.
Public officials, under Republic Act RA 3019, are prohibited from having a “direct or indirect financial or pecuniary interest in any business, contract or transaction that they intervene or participate in under their official capacity.”IMT
