Tuesday, October 09, 2007 Ombudsman warns vs bogus group By Carlo P. Mallo
THERE is a bogus group disguising itself as an arm of the Office of the Ombudsman that has been collecting fees from members and also fees for anyone who wants to file a complaint with the Ombudsman through the group.
The group: Bantay Bayan Ombudsman under one Willie Calma of Pasay City who remains at large.
Posing as an arm of the Ombudsman, the group recruits members to become part of the "intelligence team." Bantay Bayan has satellite offices in almost every region in the country, even as remote as Basilan.
Charges of usurpation of official function and estafa have been filed against all officials of the Bantay Bayan Ombudsman.
Reports gathered by Sun.Star Davao said the group has even earned the respect of the local government unit of Zamboanga City wherein it took part in the civic parade during one of the city's annual festivals. The organization has reported more than 1,000 members in Zamboanga City alone.
"True, they were one of the certified anti-graft units of the Office of the Ombudsman, but it has been quite a while since they have lost their membership due to the complaints that we have received about them," Monteroso added.
According to Monteroso, the modus operandi of the group is to collect dues from its recruited members. The group has been reported to be collecting P250 as membership fee, another P250 for a small identification card, P500 for a big identification card, and P200 in monthly dues.
Monteroso also revealed that the group collects facilitation fees and processing fees for complaints lodged in Bantay Bayan's office. "One complainant said she was asked to give P5,000 as processing fee for her complaint of murder against another person, she was later asked to give an additional P20,000 as processing fee," the deputy ombudsman said.
The deputy ombudsman said the identification cards being issued have been used as an excuse from offenses.
"One person admitted they were allowed by a traffic officer to leave though they have been apprehended for a traffic violation, and that was by simply showing their Bantay Bayan identification card," Monteroso said.
"We have also asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to cancel their registration as it is already a bogus organization," Monteroso added.
