The halls of government were rattled by what appears to be a stunning political miscalculation. A high-stakes maneuver by the new Ombudsman, Crispin Remulla, to oust a sitting senator spectacularly blew up in his face, creating a political firestorm and raising serious questions about his office’s motivations. The Ombudsman had publicly announced he would write to the Senate President, demanding the implementation of a 2016 dismissal order against Senator Joel Villanueva, tying him to an old pork barrel controversy. The move was set to trigger a constitutional showdown, but the entire plot was stopped dead in its tracks by a single, shocking revelation.

Just as the Ombudsman was making his move, Senator Villanueva calmly presented explosive evidence that rendered the entire effort pointless: an official decision from 2019, signed by former Ombudsman Samuel Martirez, that had already reversed the 2016 order and completely dismissed the case. The news reportedly “short-circuited” the new Ombudsman, who was apparently unaware that the case he was pursuing had been defunct for years. In a humiliating public retreat, the Ombudsman could only claim that the 2019 dismissal was a “surprise secret decision” that no one knew about. This claim was immediately refuted by the former Ombudsman himself, who stated the decision was not secret at all and was properly logged in the official case management system, suggesting the new office simply failed to do its research before launching its attack.

This public embarrassment is just one of several crises brewing. The new Ombudsman is also finding himself at odds with other key officials, including the acting Department of Justice Secretary, Frederick Vida. After Remulla appeared to agree with Senator Erwin Tulfo’s highly controversial statement that one must “sometimes bend the law to please the people,” the acting DOJ chief publicly contradicted him. Vida stated unequivocally that this narrative is “very wrong” and that the law is explicitly “made to be followed, not bent,” exposing a deep and troubling divide at the highest levels of the nation’s legal institutions.

With his first major play apparently neutralized, the Ombudsman is now turning his attention to new targets, sending another shockwave through the political establishment. It has been revealed that his office is now targeting two powerful political siblings, Representatives Eric and Edvic Yap, naming them “persons of interest” in a separate investigation into anomalous flood control projects. The Ombudsman has signaled his intention to move to freeze the assets of the two brothers, a move that is already being linked to previous explosive claims by a witness who alleged one of the Yaps was seen delivering large sums of money connected to the circle of the House Speaker.

As this new investigation spins up, another major government probe is mysteriously shutting down. The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), which had recently bowed to public pressure and promised to livestream its crucial hearings, has abruptly reversed course. The commission is now canceling its upcoming hearings, citing the “unavailability” of a commissioner and a sudden, newfound need to “draft rules” to protect witnesses—a flimsy excuse, critics say, for an investigation that was already underway. This sudden halt to transparency, combined with the political maneuvering in the Senate, has left the public wondering what is really happening behind closed doors and which “secret” decisions are yet to be revealed.