Ombudsman to Rody on graft war: I hope you mean it
On the eve of her last day as ombudsman, Conchita Carpio-Morales took a swipe at President Duterte’s campaign against corruption, saying the country has yet to see proof of the administration’s sincerity in eradicating crooks in government, cit- ing the “recycling” of some officials accused of corruption.
“Mr. President, I hope that when you say you want to fight corruption, you mean it,” Morales told “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s One News channel, aired Tuesday evening.
At the same time, Morales reminded the people to stand their ground against graft.
“I want people to be vigilant in the fight against corruption. I want people to speak up. I want people not to be terrorized into silence under the present circumstances,” Morales said. Recycling means reappointing officials to other
government positions after being fired or asked to resign due to corruption allegations.
“That’s presidential prerogative, but if indeed he fired these fellows for corruption, then if indeed he set aside the charge, then that’s bad for the fight against corruption,” Morales said.
“You remove someone because he’s corrupt and then you recycle him? You put him back to another office? That to me does not bode well for the fight against corruption,” she added.
Duterte has been saying he has “zero tolerance” for irregularities and that he will not hesitate to fire or sanction any government official even for a “whiff of corruption.”
But for the past months, Duterte has reappointed more than a dozen government officials he earlier fired or asked to resign on corruption charges.
Among them are former Customs chief Nicanor Faeldon who was accused by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) of involvement in the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu from China.
Faeldon resigned in August last year amid the allegation but Duterte appointed him as deputy administrator at the Office of Civil Defense in December.
Jose Gabriel La Viña, who was fired by Duterte as Social Security System commissioner for alleged misuse of the agency’s funds, was appointed tourism undersecretary in April of this year and then as agriculture undersecretary in June.
Celestina de la Serna was axed by Duterte as Philippine Health Insurance Corp. officer-in-charge due to allegations of excessive hotel and travel expenses but the President retained her as member of the PhilHealth board of directors.
Duterte has also ordered the reinstatement of Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Region 8 chief Marvin Marcos after he was accused of involvement in the killing of Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. inside his cell in Baybay City, Leyte in November 2016.
Also ordered reinstated by Duterte was Northern Police District chief Roberto Fajardo who was earlier suspended over alleged involvement in the killing of teenager Kian delos Santos supposedly by members of the Caloocan City police.
Morales admitted she does not see a significant decline in the incidence of corruption in government service, judging from the “number of complaints we receive” and “the number of alleged irregularities and anomalies that are the subject of news reports.”
“I don’t think corruption has been abated that much. It probably has ebbed but it has not really ebbed that much in such a way that we can sit erectly and say, ‘work has been done’,” Morales said.
Based on the ombudsman’s records for 2017, it received a total of 2,765 criminal complaints; 2,915 administrative complaints and 29 petitions for civil forfeiture against former and incumbent government officials accused of corruption.
The 2017 figure was higher than in 2016 when the antigraft agency received a total of 2,067 criminal complaints; 2,896 administrative complaints and 88 petitions for civil forfeiture.
Morales earlier said that despite the high number of complaints she inherited in 2011 totaling 19,000, her office has brought down the number to a manageable 6,000 as of end-2017.
Morales, an appointee of former president Benigno Aquino III, formally retired yesterday after completing a seven-year term. Duterte has yet to name her successor.
Call for vigilance
Morales stressed “corruption can never really be wiped out” in a short span of years, but it can be minimized.
“But what is alarming is if there is a surge of the incidence of corruption,” Morales said.
The ombudsman is currently investigating other former and incumbent members of Duterte’s Cabinet for alleged corruption and other administrative offenses, among them Communications Assistant Secretary Margaux Uson for allegedly peddling “fake news”; Solicitor General Jose Calida over alleged conflict of interest in connection with his family-owned security firm that bagged multimillionpeso contracts with various government offices; and former tourism secretary Wanda Teo over alleged anomalous advertisement deals entered with a media firm owned by her brother Ben Tulfo.