Ombudsman Martires says fighting corruption could take a lifetime unless...

Fighting corruption in the Philippines could take a lifetime unless values are changed, Ombudsman Samuel Martires said Thursday.

Martires made the remark during the deliberations on the proposed P3.967 billion budget for the Office of the Ombudsman for fiscal year 2022.

"On the aspect of combating corruption in the country, I think it will take us a lifetime to fight corruption unless and until we change our values, unless and until we disregard the sources of corruption, which is greed, envy, lust, avarice, these are all the seven cardinal sins," Martires said.

He noted that no matter how big the organization of the Ombudsman is, graft and corruption cannot be eradicated unless values have been changed.

Martires added that the matter is already endemic in the society.

Martires further said corruption is not just in the government as it also prevails in the private sector.

"So no person has the authority or the moral authority to accuse any government official of being corrupt unless he is in that position," Martires said.

"I challenge everyone who says that this particular agency is corrupt, let him join that agency and let me see if he too will not be corrupted," he added. 

Restore budget to combat corruption

During the deliberations, lawmakers vowed to help restore the P710.88 million or 17.91% cut made by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on the Ombudsman's original budget proposal worth P4.798 billion.

As read by Quezon City Representative Kit Belmonte, House Minority Leader Joseph Paduano made a manifestation, saying the budget cut would affect the performance of the agency.

"We all know that 2022 is an election year and the people are expecting that the Ombudsman will expedite the resolution of all pending graft cases filed against elected public officials  before the May local and national polls," Paduano said.

"The budget cut, that deliberately cripples a constitutional body like the OMB, might be misconstrued as a political act through which erring public officials can get away with their crimes in exchange for votes," Paduano said.

The House leader vowed to support any move for the purpose of restoring the proposed budget to its original amount.

Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez also appealed to restore the original budget in compliance with the Constitution and the Ombudsman Act.

"I appeal that we restore the amount of funds taken away by the DBM from our corruption watchdog to make it combat-ready,” Rodriguez said.

He pointed out that the agency does not even have a capital outlay appropriation and that funds for salaries were cut by more than P800 million.

“I can understand if we reduce capital outlay funds. But why are we reducing compensation appropriations? The Ombudsman should be able to hire additional lawyer-investigators and financial analysts to speed up the investigation and resolution of graft and corruption cases,” he said. — Anna Felicia Bajo/RSJ, GMA News