MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the Ombudsman announced yesterday that a team has been created to evaluate the latest graft charges filed against former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo in connection with the alleged anomalous purchase of police helicopters in 2009.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales also ordered the panel members to complete their evaluation and submit a report within seven days.
“I have yesterday constituted a team to conduct a fact-finding investigation in light of the presentation by the Senate of the results of its investigation,” Morales said.
She said the team includes a special prosecutor and a director and several other members.
She said the Office of the Ombudsman should not be satisfied with catching the “small fish,” as the agency goes after the “school of big fish” in government offices.
Morales created the team on the same day that Senators Teofisto Guingona III, Panfilo Lacson and Aquilino Pimentel III filed graft charges against Arroyo before the Office of the Ombudsman.
Also named respondents in the case were former interior secretary Ronaldo Puno, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Jesus Verzosa, and 16 other police officials and officers.
The police officers were accused of conniving and conspiring with Arroyo to enter into an allegedly questionable transaction involving P62.6 million in public funds that were used to purchase two secondhand light helicopters in 2009, which were passed off as brand new units.
The complaint filed by Guingona, Lacson, and Pimentel was based on the Senate Blue Ribbon committee’s findings that Arroyo, husband of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was the real owner of the secondhand helicopters.
Morales said the results of the fact-finding investigation would be submitted to her after seven days.
She said Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro also formed a team to look into the police helicopter deal anomaly after the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) filed a similar case last month.
Because of Guingona, Lacson, and Pimentel’s second complaint, Morales said she decided to form a new panel considering that more detailed information and findings were presented through the Blue Ribbon report.
Arroyo welcomed yesterday the move of the Ombudsman to swiftly investigate the charges filed by the three senators.
Arroyo, accused of selling helicopters that he purportedly owned to the PNP at brand new prices, described the seven-day deadline set by Morales as “good.”
“Now we will go by rule of law rather than by whim and prejudice of the senators who, by the way, filed on their own capacity, and not the Senate, because they bypassed the plenary,” Arroyo said in a text message to The STAR.
His younger brother, Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio Arroyo, also expressed appreciation for Morales’ move.
“It’s good to know that the Senate committee recommendation will first be evaluated. I also hope that the evaluation will be done without prejudice,” Rep. Arroyo said.
The former first gentleman said he was not surprised by the committee’s recommendation because of its obvious bias from the start.
Arroyo pointed out that just when the administration is being pummeled by the firearms controversy involving political affairs adviser Ronald Llamas, “here comes another round of Arroyo bashing.”
“Clearly, this is a biased Senate where the law is trampled upon by their whim and prejudice. I am prepared to dispute the findings in the proper forum where the proper rules of evidence I am hoping will be upheld and observed,” he said.
Rep. Arroyo expressed hope the Ombudsman will not be pressured nor influenced by the committee’s actions, since the report is merely recommendatory in character.
“It seems our co-equal branch is not just a lawmaking body anymore but has likewise taken the role of a prosecutor and judge at the same time,” he said.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said senators who suggested that the House investigate Rep. Arroyo in connection with the helicopter case should just include him in their charge sheet if they have any evidence against the congressman.
Plan against corruption
Meanwhile, Morales finally bared her plan to fight graft and corruption in government for the next seven years, beginning with prioritizing high-profile cases.
The plan was made after two months of strategic planning meetings and workshops.
She vowed to “enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, accountability, credibility and responsiveness” of the Office of the Ombudsman towards the “improvement of corruption prevention and control” through an eight-point agenda.
Morales vowed to zero in on high-profile cases by prioritizing the disposition of complaints and cases involving high-ranking officials, large sums of money, grand corruption cases, and celebrated or high-profile cases.
She explained that the Ombudsman would reduce the volume of non-priority complaints and cases like non-corruption-related complaints, frivolous cases, and cases involving offenses committed not in relation to office, which may all be coordinated with or referred to other forums or agencies like the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
To remedy the heavy backlog of more than 11,000 pending criminal and administrative cases, Morales said she intends to monitor the strict enforcement of the prescribed time frames under existing rules, which monitoring will be easily facilitated upon the full operation of the computerized and centralized Uniform Case Monitoring System early next year.
She added that cases involving retiring public officials and employees shall also be resolved with dispatch.
“Given the enormity of the workload, it seems like an impossible dream to set a goal of zero backlog, but a seven-year period is ahead of us. A good start is to gain ground in achieving it and, eventually, sustain that momentum,” Morales said, adding that zero backlog will depend on the collective efficiency of personnel and internal processes.
Morales said she plans to create a Committee on Rules which will consolidate the Internal Rules and revise the Rules of Procedure of the Office of the Ombudsman so as to revisit and fill in any gap in the systems and processes of the anti-graft agency.
She also aims to enhance the quality of the initial stage of fact-finding investigation or evidence gathering through fair, impartial and expeditious case buildup with the help of field investigators in specialized techniques like forensic engineering and forensic auditing.
She revealed that one specific measure that the Ombudsman is looking at is the gradual integration of prosecutorial functions, where trial prosecutors at the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) shall be involved in the preliminary investigation as members of investigating prosecution panels, while graft investigation officers shall be involved in the trial of cases before the Sandiganbayan as members of the prosecution team.
Morales said she also plans to institute a system of monitoring “referred complaints and cases” under Section 23(2) of the Ombudsman Act to ensure no unreasonable delay in the termination of administrative proceedings.
She likewise enjoined Ombudsman officials and employees to render meaningful, responsive, and relevant public assistance, noting that a system for active handling of public feedback and redress of grievance shall be established to ensure compliance with this standard of public service delivery. With Paolo Romero
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By: Michael Punongbayan
Source: The Philippine Star, Oct. 15, 2011
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