The Ombudsman’s crusade

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DLY anyone w e l - comes receiving an order from the Ombudsman — after all, most of the time, it is an order to file a counter- affidavit to some complaint, or to rebut some charge or complaint.

From the time the Constitution of

Ombudsman, people have turned to it with their gripes against public servants. In fact, many are unaware that besides its investigatory and prosecutorial functions, the Ombudsman’s office can also advise, urge and admonish constructively. But these have been overshadowed by its rather dark role as punisher.

Samuel Martires, a retired justice of the Supreme Court and a man recognized for his godly and amiable ways, is steering the barque of the Of

different direction. Yes, he will still investigate and recommend for prosecution — when necessary. But there is a fundamental conviction that underlies his recent initiative. The ubiquity of graft and corruption, the pernicious permeation of malfeasance and misfeasance in almost all branches, agencies and instrumentalities of government, is symptomatic, he thinks, of decadence in the moral formation of our youth. Call it old-fashioned thinking, but he is convinced that a lot has to do with the miseducation of our youth, and the virtual disappearance of all considerations of the ethical from the schooling of our youngsters.

It does seem like there is a general reticence about moral education and ethical formation. And this is largely because of our consciousness of the pluralism that we think to be indispensable to peaceable co-existence. Different strokes for different folks — and this, we take to be the peremptory norm of our present-day ethics. But the results have been far from welcome: a generation of rude, inconsiderate, self-entitled youngsters with virtually no sense of the just and the unjust, with nary a consideration for the demands of kindness and compassion, with little or no sensitivity to what human civilization has recognized as noble and sublime. This is an age that despises virginity and makes heroes of the promiscuous. Some time ago, the CBCP already expressed its concern with this dangerous trans-valuation characteristic of the present age. One who gets away with theft and plunder is praised as “

while one who is caught and punished is maligned as “

Ombudsman Martires has called upon the Commission on Higher Education and Department of Education asking that they join hands with his office in reintroducing moral formation and ethical education in the school system. Some decades ago, of course, we had values education and there were some very thoughtful people consulted. But for

the Philippines — and it is known to go by fads. And soon, the “fad” of what should be a perennial concern of formal education passed. And we moved on to the next fad.

One thing is sure. You do not teach ethics like you teach calculus. Memorizing the precepts of ethics is not the same thing as acting ethically, although it is necessary to know the norms. But is as important that one’s conscience is formed, and that one is heedful of the demands of prudence. These are virtues, and virtues are habits — and so ethical formation is largely habit-formation.

It elates me no end that we have an Ombudsman whose interest lies not solely in prosecution and in punishment but in the ethical formation and moral education of our people. After all it is never enough that we do not harm each other, nor cheat and steal. It is far more important that we care for each other and act as decent, honorable, charitable human beings towards others. Ricoeur puts it charmingly: living the good life with others in just institutions.