EVERY time Ombudsman Samuel Martires goes to Congress to defend the yearly budget of the Office of the Ombudsman, the lawmakers, the media and the public are treated to various ideas about fighting official corruption coming from his mouth.
This annual joust with the representatives and senators gives us an idea of how hard it is to combat corruption, even if all the tools and mechanisms to do so are available, such as funds, technology, legislation, and upright personnel.
Two years ago, Martires vented his frustration to Congress, saying it might be impossible to rid the country of corruption despite the government’s efforts unless a thorough value and religious formation is initiated. He correctly stressed that relying solely on the prosecution of graft suspects would probably not be enough to stop corruption.
The Ombudsman believes “it will take us a lifetime to fight corruption unless and until we change our values. Unless and until we disregard the sources of corruption, which is greed, envy, lust, avarice, these are all the seven cardinal sins.”
‘While there are congressmen who back Martires on this suggestion, we believe this won’t fly because it would further erode the public’s right to information.’
Last year, Martires admitted that corruption exists even within the Office of the Ombudsman, and that the fight against corruption is “not easy, no matter how many billions are spent.”
He revealed that since they don’t use cell phones or landlines, they can’t present any proof of wrongdoing by their staff, the more unscrupulous of whom use private lunches to discuss or make deals.
Despite his thoroughgoing and serious approach to his job, Ombudsman Martires was faulted by critics in 2020 for restricting public access to SALNs (statement of assets, liabilities and net worth) by setting conditions for anyone seeking a copy, including a notarized authorization from the document’s owner.
The filing of SALNs is required under Republic Act No. 6713, with the Ombudsman acting as the custodian of the documents, particularly those of the President, Vice President, senior officials, and star-rank military and police officers.
Later in 2021, Martires pushed for tough penalties, such as a five-year jail term, for anyone who commented on the SALNs of government employees, saying the documents were being used to destroy their reputations.
He followed this up just this week with a proposal at the House of Representatives to drop the provisions in the annual national budget regarding the mandatory publication of Commission on Audit reports on government agencies to prevent the public from prejudging those involved.
“When a person reads that there is an audit observation memorandum that says there is a little issue in a P10-million project, this person thinks that the government official involved earned kickbacks. Then it turns out that there were receipts that were not submitted,” Martires explained.
While there are congressmen who back Martires on this suggestion, we believe this won’t fly because it would further erode the public’s right to information.
