LAST month, Paul Elmer Clemente was appointed by President Aquino to be the new Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas. Clemente replaces Pelagio Apostol who retired in July. Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao, Rodolfo Elman served as acting deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas after Apostol retired.
The Office of the Ombudsman was created by the 1987 Constitution. It did not exist before then. The offices of the deputy Ombudsman for Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao are all explicitly specified by the Constitution.
The appointment of Clemente provides an opportunity to gauge the effectiveness of the Ombudsman. The 2014 budget for the Ombudsman’s office was just over P1 billion.
I sense that the organization of the Ombudsman’s role is largely centralized. This is regrettable in the light of the Constitutional provision for senior level positions for Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao.
The Constitution specifies that the Ombudsman and his Deputies shall have the rank of Chairman and Members of the Constitutional Commissions (Audit, Elections, Appointments).
The Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas, therefore, is a senior level position and should be given commensurate authority. I mention this because, in Bacolod, we have the interminable case of Bacolod City Mayor Monico Puentevella and the alleged overprice of some computers and allied software in schools. By now, Monico complains of this case as being “stale” and “recycled.” Unfortunately there seems to be stalemate. I hope Clemente can get things moving and, if there is a bottleneck in the central office, he should, without any disloyalty to his superior (the Ombudsman, Conchita Carpio-Morales), be able to say so.
Section 12, Article XI of the Constitution specifies that the Ombudsman and his deputies as protectors of the people shall act on complaints filed in any form or manner against public officials or employees of the government. This begs the question as to how these complaints may be filed. It would be a good idea if Clemente could examine the various mechanisms by which complaints may reach his office in Cebu. Technology has made a massive contribution to the timely collection of data relating to incidents that may happen. It would help matters tremendously if Clemente could provide e-mail and other electronic receptacles for information from the public.
Time is of the essence and the prompt submission of a complaint and a correspondingly prompt reply from the Ombudsman’s office would do much to enhance the effectiveness of Ombudsman’s role.
But how many members of the public know how to get in touch with the Ombudsman? Very few.
I believe there is a skeleton staff based in Bacolod City and/or Iloilo City. There is an important public relations dimension to the work of the Ombudsman. Hence, if staff working in the office of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas could make themselves better known, this could make a huge difference.
Section 13(7), Article XI provides an underused function of the Ombudsman. It states: “Determine the causes of inefficiency, red tape, mismanagement, fraud, and corruption in the Government and make recommendations for their eliminations.”
Improved systems and procedures in government offices would go a long way to reduce corruption.
It would be much appreciated if the Deputy Ombudsman, Visayas examined this vital corruption prevention role.