Office of the Ombudsman: Office of injustice?

In the years I have known my dear friend Fr. Carmelo Diola, coordinator of the Dilaab Movement for Social Transformation, I’ve always found him to be a very patient man. But his latest press statement entitled “ASEAN Lamppost: A Bad Joke” tells us that the patience of Fr. Diola has snapped. We can only sympathize with him because we are equally as frustrated about the foot dragging of the Office of the Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. The Ombudsman, in allowing the Dilaab group to be its eyes and ears in Cebu is also nothing but another joke!

If corruption in this country continues to persist, it is because the people tasked to track down those crooked government officials are doing nothing about it. It is a fact that in the Lamppost Scam (and later, in the cases that Mr. Efrain Pelaez filed against Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza) the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas were practically spoon-fed with the information that they should have gathered for themselves!

Yet, after a long time waiting for anything to happen on these cases, it does seem that the Office of the Ombudsman is allowing the grass to grow on these cases. Another celebrated case is the Girls Scout scam that was allegedly perpetrated by then Rep. Clavel Asas Martinez. Any lawyer would tell you that that case was literally locked tight because the money trail showed that public funds landed in the Congresswoman’s private bank account. Yet four years later we are looking at a blank wall, thanks to the Office of the Ombudsman who like most government offices have become an expert in giving out excuses as to why they can’t do this or that!

Again, issues like the Ombudsman brings us back to the clamor to have Charter changes as soon as possible. However, it is sad that some of our friends still fall into that trap that any charter changes must come only after the 2010 elections through a Constitutional Convention (concon). We’ve been through that before during the time of then Pres. Fidel V. Ramos. Those of us who wanted charter changes were told to give the Ramos Administration a chance. Yet after six years in office, the Ramos Administration embarked on charter changes only to be rebuffed and accused of trying to extend his term.

This didn’t happen during the administration of Erap as it was too short. Then came the Arroyo Administration, who did not look into this until the 2004 elections, where she promised a shift to a Federal form of governance, yet she waited too long in her term. Now that she is pushing for these charter changes, her moves have become suspect. But we can still have the elections of Concon delegates during the 2010 elections, which means Pres. Arroyo can no longer use this to extend her term. But still some people are just too negative or too hard headed to understand how we should start moving towards charter changes.

Back to the issue plaguing the Office of the Ombudsman. I still cannot understand why the Lamppost Scam cannot be decided here in Cebu? Is Merceditas Gutierrez telling us that this Office of the Ombudsman for the Visayas is nothing but a mere post office of Imperial Manila? One of the things I learned in life is always to look for ways to improve ourselves. If we are lacking in efficiency, then we must find ways to fast track issues to make ourselves more efficient. Ahh, but no one in the Office of the Ombudsman knows the meaning of the word efficient!

Now back to Fr. Diola. If you recall, he became an instant celebrity when he organized a massive rally in Fuente Osmeña, the biggest rally ever held in Cebu during the impeachment attempt of then Supreme Court Justice Hilario Davide Jr. That was a rally seeking justice from evil politicians. Now is the time to consider holding another rally because of that old legal dictum, Justice Delayed is Justice Denied! That the Office of the Ombudsman is taking their sweet time to file cases against the crooks in the government is a blatant act of injustice perpetrated by the people whom we taxpayers pay to help the Filipino people get justice!

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Last Tuesday, The Philippine Star came up with a very interesting article urging Filipinos to patronize gas stations that offered cheaper prices. This is clear proof that we are a seller’s market because consumers here do not know how to fight back and put down retailers to its knees. Another piece of news was when US Pres. George W Bush declared that certain parts of the United States is now on a recession. Hmmm, using this statement, can we also say that only parts of the Philippines are experiencing poverty, which is why 18% of Filipinos are going hungry? This is something for you to ponder on and perhaps validate with proper research, not through an SWS poll!