Saturday, November 11, 2006
Editorial: Being skeptical about it
IT'S funny how the Ombudsman urged the public to be vigilant and report to its office cases of corruption in government when the office itself is under fire for reversing the Supreme Court ruling that ordered the Commission on Elections to reclaim payment for questionable automated counting machines (ACM).
But first the background; the Ombudsman was reacting to a report of the country's rating on the 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index of global watchdog Transparency International (TI), which ranked the Philippines as 2.5 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being "the cleanest."
Not the most enviable position even if we rank up there with such countries as Russia for the most corrupt country in the world, at least according to public perception. Last time we heard, the country ranks a little bit lower than Mexico in terms of corruption, though Mexico never had to deal with a serious insurgency threat like ours.
Reactions to the Ombudsman's appeal are at best cynical, with Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. saying the campaign against corruption is a continuing failure because President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself lacks the moral leadership to spearhead the drive.
Also it goes without saying that her husband "Big Mike" Arroyo is being entangled in all sorts of corruption scandals and has filed several libel complaints against noted journalists in response to these scandals without directly addressing and disproving them credibly.
So now we go back to the Comelec case, which the Ombudsman disputed and then dismissed without sufficient grounds. The Ombudsman move may even be credited with the Supreme Court rejection of the People's Initiative, a sort of tit for tat after the case.
The fact that the Ombudsman overruled a Supreme Court decision didn't go unnoticed of course and Mercedita Guittierrez can argue all she wants but the Ombudsman decision certainly pissed off a lot of High Tribunal justices.
Again, how does one respond to the Ombudsman's appeal to report cases of corruption in government offices? Its ruling on the Supreme Court decision on Comelec speaks volumes on the credibility of its appeal. Not to mention of course the persistent reports about how Guttierrez got her position in the first place.
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Zamboanga. (November 11, 2006 issue)
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