EDITORIAL - A new graftbuster

Two months after Aniano Desierto retired, a new Ombudsman has been appointed. Solicitor General Simeon Marcelo was chosen by President Arroyo from a list of three nominees submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council. Marcelo was one of the prosecutors in the impeachment trial of deposed President Joseph Estrada. At the time Marcelo was a partner in a law firm that is now deemed highly influential because of its close ties to Malacañang.

The Office of the Ombudsman is tasked to deal with one of the biggest problems bedeviling the nation: corruption in all agencies of government. Studies have shown that corruption has cost the nation billions of pesos in lost revenues. Red tape and the opportunities it opens for corruption also discourage investments. How much investments have we lost to nations with more efficient and honest bureaucracies?

A land where the culture of corruption has been nurtured for centuries needs a man of high integrity and competence to occupy the position of Ombudsman. But the record of Desierto can be described at best as spotty. Throughout his fixed tenure he was hounded by perceptions that he was beholden to the man who appointed him to the post, former President Fidel Ramos, and that he always did the bidding of whoever was the occupant of Malacañang.

For an Ombudsman to be effective, he must prove his independence even from the appointing power. This may be too much to ask in a society where debts of gratitude must be repaid over and over, leaving a person beholden for a lifetime. Marcelo, however, should keep in mind that he is no longer a lawyer representing the go-vernment but an official tasked to discourage wrongdoing in public service. History can be a harsh judge. Marcelo can choose between going down in history as a great Ombudsman or merely one among a succession of individuals appointed to the post of chief graftbuster.