Ombudsman vows more transparency

MANILA, Philippines - Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez yesterday assured the business sector that she would be more transparent in developments concerning corruption cases.

Gutierrez told the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) in Makati City of the government’s efforts in dealing with the problem of corruption.

Gutierrez explained the process of investigating corruption cases before the Office of the Ombudsman.

“I was able to inform them of what we do at the Office of the Ombudsman. Many people do not know the procedures, our functions, what we have been doing and what we have been able to accomplish so far in the discharge of our duties,” Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez also welcomed suggestions from businessmen to work closely with the Ombudsman in prosecuting corruption cases.

She said the businessmen aired their concerns on the image of the country as corruption-ridden.

“(Such) perception certainly destroys the country’s image. They (businessmen) would like to encourage investors into the country. But if the perception is that we are a corrupt country, then they are inhibited from investing. We talked on how we could change this perception and have more investors,” Gutierrez said.

Sergio Ortiz-Luiz, president of the Employers Cooperation of the Philippines (ECOP), said the business group sought a dialogue with Gutierrez to discuss proposals on how to improve the image of the Office of the Ombudsman.

“We also told her that we would like better transparency and better communication from her office. It should be more productive in explaining actions to the public,” Ortiz-Luiz said.

Ortiz-Luiz stressed the intention was to help the Ombudsman in its efforts to fight corruption in the government by being more transparent.

According to Ortiz-Luiz, the Filipino business community is bothered that the efforts of the Office of the Ombudsman are being sidetracked by criticisms attacking its integrity.

“It is a pain to see that all this energy is being spent on this when there are bigger problems,” he said.