Martires to demand ex-Duterte lawyer to name Ombudsman staff in corruption claim

Newly-appointed Ombudsman Samuel Martires on Monday said he will "demand" President Rodrigo Duterte's former attorney, a failed contender for his new post, to reveal the perpetrator of an alleged corrupt practice at the anti-graft office.

Martires, an outgoing associate justice of the Supreme Court (SC), said it was one of his priorities to look into corruption claims, including one by lawyer Edna Herrera-Batacan, who had said she was a "victim" of "parking fee," or paying to delay the results of an investigation at the Office of the Ombudsman.

"I will be demanding—not requesting—I will be demanding from Atty. Batacan for her to identify the officer or employee she gave money to, she said, as parking fee," Martires told reporters in a mix of English and Filipino after the last flag rites he attended at the SC.

He said he does not mean to summon the ex-Duterte lawyer and declined to venture into whether a case could be filed against her. "I just want her to cooperate with us," he said.

During the required public panel interview for the applicants for Ombudsman last month, Batacan accused the anti-graft office of being "graft-ridden" and counted herself among its alleged preys.

"I'm a victim also, I know for a fact how it operates. Inordinate delay is contrary to the speedy disposition of cases. They have such a thing as parking fee in that office. When the case is filed and it's under preliminary investigation, they will say, 'Okay, I will just keep it on hold, for resolution. I will just keep it on hold then you pay me parking fee,'" Batacan had said.

Retired Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, Martires' predecessor, had said of Batacan's claim: "If you are party to corruption, then you are corrupt yourself."

Batacan did not make it to the shortlist of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), the body that screens applicants for judiciary posts for recommendation to the President.

Martires said he will meet with officers and employees of the Office of the Ombudsman on Wednesday, when he officially assumes his new post, to inform them of his planned actions against allegations of corruption within the body.

A look into inordinate delay, which has caused the Office of the Ombudsman to lose many a case, would also be his priority, the new chief graft-buster said.

"My priorities will be the pending cases, the issue of inordinate delay, which has been an issue that has been haunting the Sandiganbayan as well as the Supreme Court," he said. "I will immediately look into that and the causes for delay."

On criticism

Martires said he was surprised by his appointment last week, a development that was criticized by a coalition of groups—best known for supporting ousted chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno—on the basis of some of his decisions as a justice of the Sandiganbayan, and later of the High Court.

He reiterated that he could not shame anyone for his or her faith, an allegation that has hounded him after Sereno asked him to inhibit from the case against her due to, among others, a supposed insinuation that her religiosity could be a sign of mental illness.

He apologized but denied faith-shaming the former chief justice.

Of his critics, he said: "Kung 'yan ang kanilang paniniwala sa akin, ay sana 'wag nila akong pigilan na ipagpatuloy ko 'yung sarili kong paniniwala na ang lahat ng ito'y nangyayari dahil sa kagustuhan ng Panginoon."

He bested two applicants on the JBC shortlist: Edilberto Sandoval, former Sandiganbayan presiding justice and incumbent Special Prosecutor; and Felito Ramirez, lawyer and fraternity brother of Duterte. —KG, GMA News