THE OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN
Medwin Sagutin Dizon*I.

CONSTITUTIONAL MECHANISM

We Filipinos believe that public office is a public trust and therefore, publicaccountability is a must.
Bearing this in mind, Articles 12 and 13 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution
envisioned the Office of the Ombudsman as the constitutional accountability authority
in government with full powers to exercise extraordinary oversight and investigative
authority over actions of all public officials and employees.
By constitutional mandate, the Philippine Congress passed into law, Republic
Act 6770, otherwise known as “The Ombudsman Act of 1989” which gave the Officeof the Ombudsman specific powers such as:
1. To investigate anomalies and inefficiency;
2. To prosecute cases before courts of law;
3. To conduct administrative adjudication;
4. To render public assistance; and5. To prevent graft and corruption.
Popularly known as the government’s watchdog, the Office of theOmbudsman is safeguarded from political influence and interference by theprovisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, to wit:
1. The appointment of the Ombudsman and her Deputies need no congressional
confirmation and they possess the rank of chairman and members, respectively, of aConstitutional Commission;* Director, Preliminary Investigation, Administrative Bureau-A, Office of the Ombudsman.

- 112 -2. The Ombudsman and her deputies have fixed terms of Office during which theirsalaries cannot be diminished;
3. The Ombudsman is removable from Office only by impeachment; and4. The Office of the Ombudsman has fiscal autonomy.
The Office of the Ombudsman has jurisdiction over officials and employees ofthe government or any of its subdivisions, agencies or instrumentalities, includingmembers of the cabinet, local government officials, officials of government owned
and controlled corporations, and private individuals who have acted in conspiracy
with the foregoing officials.
Our Ombudsman, Conchita Carpio Morales, vows to pursue these ideals anddeclares an 8-point priority within her term for 2011 to 2018. Thus, The Ombudsman
is set to:
1. Dispose of complaints and cases involving high ranking officials, those involving
large sums of money, grand corruption cases and celebrated cases;
2. Attain zero backlog;
3. Improve survival rate of cases referred for further fact-finding;
4. Enforce monitoring of referred cases;
5. Improve responsiveness of public assistance;
6. Improve anti-corruption policy and programme coordination among sectors;
7. Rationalize the functional structure of the Office of the Ombudsman; and8. Enhance transparency and credibility of the Office of the Ombudsman.

II. WAYS TO RAISE AWARENESSOver the years, various projects and programmes were introduced, developedand implemented to prevent corruption. Examples are the following:- 113 -A. Strengthening of the Resident Ombudsmen
A Resident Ombudsman is a lawyer from the Office of the Ombudsman who
is posted to hold office in different government agencies and offices including
government owned and controlled corporations to enable the head of office to have afirst hand and holistic perspective of the corruption problem, situation andinefficiency in its operation.
Resident Ombudsmen also render mediation services, give lectures as part ofanti-corruption education and monitor submission of Statements of Assets, Liabilities,and Net Worth of government officials and employees.

B. Integrity Development Review or IDR
In 2004, the Office of the Ombudsman piloted the IDR with assistance fromthe United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to review theeffectiveness of its own system against corruption.
The IDR consists of two major tools, namely:a.

Corruption Resistance Review – where a survey of employees andreview of relevant policies and procedures are made and assessed; andb.

Corruption Vulnerability Assessment – where risks and problems aredetermined while controls and safeguards are evaluated.
At present, the IDR is exercised in almost all agencies of the government
including the Philippine Judiciary.

- 114 -C. Creation of Corruption Prevention Units (CPUs) and Junior Graftwatch
Units (JGUs)
Corruption Prevention Units are civil society organizations that assist theOffice of the Ombudsman (OMB for brevity) in detecting corruption in thebureaucracy. Thus, any bonafide non-partisan group from any sector with identifiableleadership and structure and with demonstrated capacity to promote the interest andassist the OMB in its crusade for a clean and honest government may become a CPU.
Junior Graftwatch Units serve as the OMB’s youth arm in graft prevention andcontrol. The JGUs are designed to awaken the consciousness of young citizens andinstill honesty and efficiency to curb graft and corruption. JGUs are established inschools and communities.

D. Education
The Office of the Ombudsman continuously updates its officials andemployees by holding Strategic Planning Seminars, Research Symposium, Teaching
Exemplars, Ehem Aha Seminars, Orientation Lectures and Briefing, Research/Thesis
Assistance Program and by encouraging attendance at local and international trainings
and conferences.

E. Promotion
Programs and projects of the Office of the Ombudsman are best relayed to thepublic by way of multimedia such as;- 115 -a.

A radio program called “Magsumbong sa Ombudsman” aired every

Wednesday from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. over DZRB Radyo ng Bayan and its provincial
stations nationwide;b.

A television program called “Ombudsman: Kakampi Mo Laban sa

Katiwalian” telecast over NB Channel 4 every Saturdays from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.;c.

Published in 2009 is the OMB Citizen’s Charter to serve as user guideon how to avail of the services of the OMB;d.

Improved website, hotlines, E-mails and Text Messages lead toaccessibility of the services and performance of the OMB nationwide;e.

Publication and exhibits of anti-corruption materials helped indisseminating the mission and vision of the OMB in its fight against corruption. Heldin big venues such as the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), SM
Mall of Asia, and the Asian Development Bank, the exhibit is aimed to raiseawareness and to encourage the public to get involved in the OMB’s goal; andf.

Celebration of International Anti-Corruption Day proved that theprivate and public sectors including international development partners joined hands
in reacting and formulating solutions to the problem of graft and corruption.
III. IMPLEMENTATION
According to its 2010 Annual Report, the Office of the Ombudsman resolveda total of 8,963 cases for the year 2010. 4,968 (55%) of these cases were criminalcases, while 3,995 (45%) were administrative cases. Of the criminal cases, 19%
resulted in the finding of probable cause against the respondents; the rest (81%) weredismissed for lack of evidence. On the other hand, of the administrative cases, 22%- 116 -resulted in a finding of guilt and imposition of administrative penalty; while the rest(78%) were dismissed.
In 2010, some 1,747 public officials and employees were criminally indicted
in court for various offenses. Of this number, 427 (24%) were high ranking officials
while 1,320 (76%) were low ranking officials. The year 2010 also recorded anincrease in the number of criminal informations filed before the Sandiganbayan
against high-ranking officials in government. A total of 281 informations were filed,up by almost 50% from last year’s 189. The total amount involved in the criminalcases for prosecution before the anti-graft court is P129.3 million. Also in 2010, theSandiganbayan rendered its decision in 121 cases which had undergone full-blown
trial.

Of this number, 40 cases resulted in conviction, and hence, registered aconviction rate of 33.1%. Consequently, a total of 67 officials accused of various
offenses were convicted by the anti-graft court. Among them are seven mayors, aformer administrator, SUC president, judges, provincial prosecutors, assistantsecretary, and a PNP director general, among others.
Conversely, a total of 190 cases involving low-ranking officials andemployees of the government were decided by the regular trial courts in the National
Capital Region, Visayas, and Mindanao. Of this number, 95 or 50% resulted inconviction.
Finally, during the year 2010, 1,523 public officials and employees weremeted administrative penalties.

A total of 504 (33%) were dismissed from theservice; 837 (55%) suspended; 117 (7.7%) reprimanded and 65 (4.3%) fined.
Moreover, 107 government functionaries were placed under preventive suspension
pending investigation while eight were merely admonished after the adjudication of
their cases.

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