Nip corruption in the bud — GMA

"Corruption must be nipped in the bud and never be allowed to flourish."

President Arroyo said this yesterday during the 14th anniversary of the Office of the Ombudsman as she paid tribute to Ombudsman Aniano Desierto, who retires in September.

"Such is the special role the Ombudsman plays in our society. It balances power in governance (and) ensures that government not only creates laws but also upholds them," she said.

Desierto, chief prosecutor of the plunder and other graft cases against deposed President Joseph Estrada, completes his seven-year tour of duty this year, and has said that he would like history to judge him well by sending the first "big fish" to jail in the war against corruption.

The Office of the Ombudsman inaugurated its new office on Agham Road, Quezon City yesterday.

The President cited the accomplishments of Desierto since he first took office in 1995 up to 2001, during which he received 58,254 cases.

She said the Ombudsman was able to dispose of 95 percent of these cases, most notable of which were the prosecution of ranking officials.

"They talk about big fish, well the Ombudsman battled a lot of big fish, among them a former president, two former first ladies, 17 Cabinet members, six congressmen, and 541 local government officials," Mrs. Arroyo said.

She was obviously alluding to her predecessor Estrada, his wife Sen. Luisa Ejercito whose jueteng charges were eventually withdrawn, and Imelda Marcos with her ill-gotten wealth cases.

Digressing from her prepared speech, Mrs. Arroyo recalled a conversation she had with Desierto.

"One of the things I remembered most of Ani Desierto, one time he told me that he is very conscious that he faces the judgment of history and he does not want history to judge him badly. He wants history to judge him well," she said.

"And so I’m confident that in all the actions that Ani has done throughout his work as Ombudsman, he was always conscious of history and I think history rather than the lure of temporary wealth and... approval is a greater guide for (the) good that should be done," she added.

The President also reminded her audience, consisting mostly of personnel of the anti-graft watchdog agency of the government, to learn the lessons from recent Philippine history in which the people took it upon themselves to remove corrupt leaders from the highest office.

She was referring to the two versions of people power, the first which ousted the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, and Estrada last year.

"It may be said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, but those blinded by absolute sense of power were eventually brought down by the people themselves," she said, stressing that upheavals like this need not happen again.

"For no democratic society can achieve respectability, seriousness and political maturity until it is proven in words and in deeds that no one is above the law," Mrs. Arroyo said.

She called upon Desierto and his office to keep up with their faithful discharge of their constitutional mandate as "sentinels" against dishonest, abusive, and corrupt government officials and employees.

"Mistrust in our justice system breeds contempt and resentment against authority. And when authority is severely eroded, we plant the seeds of disorder and at worst, social upheaval," she said.

The President further reminded the Ombudsman to apply the full force of the law on both small fry and big fish.

"There is a saying that ‘poor boys fry and rich boys fly’. This is something that we must disabuse our constituencies of," she said.