THE Office of the Ombudsman filed only 66 cases against erring public officials for the first six months of 2021 or an average of just 11 cases each month according to figures released last week by the Sandiganbayan Records Section.
For long stretches during the said period, the Ombudsman was forced to halt most operations, including investigations of pending complaints in compliance with restriction orders from health authorities to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The monthly breakdown of new cases showed 55 cases were filed by the Ombudsman in January 2021, seven in February, one in March, none in April, one in May, and two in June.
Even so, this was already an improvement compared to the same period in 2020 when the anti-corruption body only filed 43 cases.
Case disposal by the Sandiganbayan fared only a little better with 130 cases disposed of during the first semester or just a little under 22 cases resolved per month.
As of June 31, 2021, the anti-graft court’s pending case total stood at 3,089.
However, its 130-case disposal record was a decline from January to June 2020 when the seven divisions resolved a total of 150 cases.
Likewise, during the same six-month period prosecutors from the Office of the Ombudsman scored 44 convictions against 82 acquittals. There were also 32 cases dismissed, two cases withdrawn by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, and one where the accused turned state witness.
The Sandiganbayan is coming from a five-year low in case disposal performance in 2020 where it posted only 340 cases resolved — a 69.5 percent drop from 1,114 cases in 2019 before the pandemic hit.
Like the Office of the Ombudsman, court proceedings on pending cases at the Sandiganbayan had to be suspended due to the public health crisis with only the most urgent pleadings allowed to be heard including motions to travel and for posting of bail.
