Republic of the Philippines

OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN

Ombudsman Building, Agham Road
Diliman, Quezon City

JOSE MARCO P. DELA CRUZ,

Complainant,

-versus- Case No. C-C-20-0054

Case No. C-C-20-0055

MARIA JUANA V. AKUSTA

(salary grade 30) and
PEPITO C. REYES
Respondents.

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MANIFESTATION
with
PRAYER FOR RESPONDENTS'
IMMEDIATE PREVENTIVE SUSPENSION FROM OFFICE

INTERVENORS, PUBLIC ATTORNEYS FROM THE PUBLIC

ATTORNEY’S CENTRAL OFFICE, most urgently and respectfully
manifest that:

1. Intervenors are incumbent Public Attorneys assigned to the

Public Attorney's Office - Central, particularly from the Executive
Support Staff (ESS), Field Operations and Statistics Office (FOSS),
and Legal Research Service (LRS), and have personal knowledge
being privy to the daily activities and transactions of herein
respondents Maria Juana V. Akusta (Akusta) and Pepito Reyes
(Reyes) relating to the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine.

2. The fight against corruption is a compelling state interest. As

lawyers and government officials, intervenors have the sworn duty to
dispense justice and safeguard the public interest which includes the
responsibility to promote transparency in line with the country's
efforts to curb corruption. Intervenors' current employment and
position in the PAO can be useful to identify the fraud indicators or
"red flags" in order to combat and stop the corrupt activities of
respondents Akusta and Reyes, i.e., fraud, falsification and
malfeasance in public procurement.

3. Intervenors regrettably inform this Honorable Office that despite the

pendency of the instant complaint filed by complainant Atty. Jose
Marco P. Dela Cruz (Dela Cruz), respondents Akusta and Reyes,
through their cohorts in Financial Planning and Management Service
(Finance), have a systematic scheme in covering traces of their
 capricious, illegal, and corrupt practices especially relating to the
disbursement and allocation of the PAO budget.

4.