Ombud accused of ‘being biased, inutile, inefficient’

FOLLOWING the report that the Office of the Ombudsman lost more cases than what it won in 2009, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday expressed concern for city cases being handled by the anti-graft office.

The Ombudsman’s poor performance, he said, is a cause for worry, as he lambasted the office for being “biased” against him.

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Two other persons also criticized the anti-graft office for failing to act on cases against the Cebu Provincial Government.

Environmental lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos said the Ombudsman should have an independent investigation on the Balili property while businessman Crisologo Saavedra lamented the agency’s inefficiency after the dismissal of the case he filed on the overpriced purchases for the Asean summit.

Osmeña, for his part, said unlike his political opponent Mayor Alvin Garcia, the cases against him are being resolved by the Ombudsman right away.

He was referring to the complaint filed by then Sudlon II barangay captain Jessie Jayme, who alleged that the mayor shouted at and drove him away during the scheduled signing of an agreement between a cable company and the City of Cebu, for a free educational TV program for barangay schools.

In 2003, the Ombudsman found Osmeña guilty of misconduct, which came with the penalty of a reprimand, for shooing away Jayme from the mayor’s office.

Confronted

In 2005, Osmeña confronted then Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas director Virginia Palanca Santiago that while allegations against him were decided with a sense of urgency, the anti-graft office was seemingly lethargic on that of his political rival, former mayor Garcia.

Santiago that time was the guest speaker of the Cebu City Association of Barangay Councils general assembly that Osmeña also attended.

He confronted Santiago because her office still had not resolved the allegation that Garcia’s administration failed to account for 20,000 tons of asphalt.

In that encounter, Santiago explained they needed documentary evidence, since the graft investigator could not docket the complaint for a formal administrative and criminal investigation without it.

Otherwise, she had said, her office would have to conduct a fact-finding investigation, like asking for the information from the Commission on Audit, which would take long.

Biased

In a press conference yesterday, the mayor reiterated his allegation that the Ombudsman is biased for his political opponents, citing the case involving the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), which is a project of the Capitol headed by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.

Last June 17, Osmeña submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas and the Commission on Audit documents to back his accusation that scrap iron was used to build the CICC.

Osmeña submitted an inventory of scrap iron turned over by Taisei Corp. and Marubeni Corp. Joint Venture. These were allegedly excess materials used in the Cebu South Coastal Road Project. He alleged that these ended up being used for the CICC.

Osmeña said his source, whom he refused to name, said the Department of Public Works and Highways failed to hold a public bidding before selling the scrap iron.

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman also drew flak yesterday, following a report that it wants updates on the Provincial Board (PB) investigation on the Balili controversy.

Ramos, who was among those who raised the red flag on the transaction, said the anti-graft office should ask itself the same question.

“Whatever happened to their independent investigation,” said Ramos, a member of the National Environmental Action Team of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).

“They look inutile,” she said of the anti-graft office.

Santiago was not at her office when sought for her reaction. A call to her mobile phone also went unanswered.

She was the one who followed up on the PB investigation on the case, which implicates Gov. Garcia and PB Member Juan Bolo, both of whom are seeking reelection.
Result?

But Ramos, in talk with reporters yesterday, said the anti-graft investigation on the Balili deal began around the same time the PB initiated its investigation.

“What is the result of that investigation?” she said.

She lamented that the ant-graft office is supposed to set the example in efficiency and transparency in governance. However, she said the anti-graft office is doing the exact opposite.

Saavedra, in a separate interview, said the same.

He said the criminal and administrative complaints he filed against those involved in the alleged anomalous purchase of surveillance cameras and recording equipment for

the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit got dismissed because of the anti-graft office’s inefficiency and non-transparency.

He said he was never given the chance to substantiate his claims because he was never told the fact-finding had been upgraded.

He said he was not even formally informed that the complaints had been dismissed.

Ramos added that Deputy Ombudsman Pelagio Apostol refused to take a stand and, instead, raised to Manila the question of whether the governor should be among those who should be facing formal criminal and administrative investigation over the CICC case.

Apostol, defending his endorsement of the case to the central office, cited an inter-office memorandum on the centralized approval of criminal and administrative resolutions in cases against governors.

Tanodbayan Merceditas Gutierrez issued another memorandum stating that final evaluation reports have to be submitted to Manila.

Ramos said the IBP intends to question the constitutionality of the memorandum, adding that it violates due process and the equal protection clauses of the Constitution.

“It is the people who are made to suffer. They have been deprived of the right to know because the cases are being sent to Manila where they are discussed out from public view,” she said.

She said Gutierrez should resign and allow the next President to appoint another person for the job. This way, she added, people will hopefully learn to trust the anti-graft office again.