SENATE president Aquilino 'Koko' Pimentel III over the weekend said the burden of proof following allegations of corruption by top officials of the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP) lies on the hands of the whistleblower, Engineer Selwyn Lao.
Lao is the president of Wing-An Construction and Development Corporation, the firm which built the unfinished 8-storey Student Center and Education Complex building.
Lao came forward and claimed his refusal to give 10 percent 'grease money or SOP' to USTP officials led to the termination of the contract.
He said he was not paid for some of the work done on the P200 million building.
Because of his continuing failure to collect payment from USTP, Lao said he filed several complaints before the Office of President Rodrigo Duterte and the Ombudsman.
Lao claimed corruption at USTP involved several top officials including the late USTP president Dr. Ricardo Rotoras.
Pimentel said Lao, who threw heavy accusations should provide his witnesses and evidence.
"He (Rotoras) cannot defend himself pero wala naman sa kaniya ang burden to prove his innocence ang may burden ang pikas, siya (Lao) ang mag-prove nga naay corruption (Rotoras cannot defend himself but the burden to prove the allegations of corruption lies with the accuser),"Pimentel said.
Pimentel said Lao could also ask the Senate to investigate but said the contractor must first execute an affidavit and submit it to a Senator whom he thinks would believe him.
The Senate president said based on the affidavit they would know how much the contractor knows or is willing to divulge.
But, since the issues have already been elevated to the Office of the Ombudsman, Pimentel said he prefers to have the Ombudsman do its job and investigate the charges of corruption.
"Pasagdan na nato ang ombudsman mag-investigate and kung makita nga naay corruption kasuhan na niya tanan involved bisan kinsa ma-private man nga kauban sa conspiracy or public employees sa USTP (We should let the Ombudsman investigate and if the allegations are proven true, then all those involved should be charged, whether private persons or public employees at USTP),"Pimentel added.
Pimentel also warned USTP officials and employees including all workers of the government against commiting or abetting corruption because the Duterte administration is serious in going after corrupt government employees.
Meanwhile, Lawyer Antonio Soriano, convenor of Citizens Watch for Good Governance (CWGG), said the investigations on the allegations of corruption and the murder of USTP president Dr. Ricardo Rotoras should proceed simultaneously.
"Dungan ni nga imbestigahan ang 3 ka issues ang murder, allegations on corruption ug ang kaso ni Galua nga ngakuhaan siyag armas ug explosives (these three issues should be investigated at the same time),"Soriano said.
Soriano said while the police are investigating the December 2, 2017 killing of Rotoras, an administrative probe should also be done to determine, if any, the involvement of USTP officials.
Soriano said members of the Board of Regents (BoR) who are not implicated in the alleged anomalies can initiate an investigation.