De Lima calls for urgent appointment of ‘proactive’ Ombudsman amid flood control mess

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. should appoint a new Ombudsman as soon as possible to speed up the prosecution of the perpetrators of anomalous flood control projects, ML party-list Representative Leila de Lima said Tuesday.

The former Justice secretary made the call a day after the Independent Commission of Infrastructure (ICI) recommended the filing of graft and malversation of public funds and falsification of public documents against former Ako Bicol congressman Zaldy Co and some Department of Public Works and Highways officials over their alleged links to the P289.5-million road dike project along the Mag-Asawang Tubig River in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

“Ideally, ordinarily, the Ombudsman has jurisdiction on all cases of graft and corruption cases. Kailangan talaga ng isang Ombudsman na proactive. Unfortunately, nakikita natin na wanting ang Office of the Ombudsman in doing its job, especially that the President is yet to appoint a regular Ombudsman. What we have is an Acting Ombudsman,” de Lima said in a press conference.

(We need a proactive Ombudsman. Unfortunately, the Office of the Ombudsman is wanting [in that aspect] in doing its job.)

“[Dapat] bilisan na ang pag-appoint ng bagong Ombudsman. Hindi kakayanin ng isang Acting Ombudsman lang. Sa lawak ng sabwatan at sa dami ng sangkot na mga mambabatas at opisyal ng gobyerno sa maanomalyang flood control projects, kailangan na ng isang regular na Ombudsman na tunay nang makakatutok at tutugon sa mga reklamong lalapag sa kanilang tanggapan," she added.

(The President should appoint a new Ombudsman soon. The Acting Ombudsman cannot do the job. with the breadth of the collusion and with the number of lawmakers and government officials implicated in the anomalous flood projects, a regular Ombudsman is needed to work on the complaints the office will receive.)

Likewise, de Lima said the Office of the Ombudsman should be proactive and promptly conduct preliminary investigation based on the ICI recommendations so cases can be filed against the personalities involved before the appropriate courts, including the Sandiganbayan.

“The Ombudsman needs to act quickly because a warrant of arrest cannot be issued [by the Ombudsman] at the preliminary investigation stage. It is only the court, whether a regular court or the Sandiganbayan, which can issue a warrant of arrest,” de Lima said.

Under the Ombudsman law, the Office of the Ombudsman is mandated to:

•  investigate and prosecute on its own or on complaint by any person, any act or omission of any public officer or employee, office or agency, when such act or omission appears to be illegal, unjust, improper or inefficient;
• direct, upon complaint or at its own instance, any officer or employee of the government, or of any subdivision, agency or instrumentality thereof, as well as any government-owned or controlled corporations with original charter, to perform and expedite any act or duty required by law, or to stop, prevent, and correct any abuse or impropriety in the performance of duties;
• direct the officer concerned to take appropriate action against a public officer or employee at fault or who neglect to perform an act or discharge a duty required by law, and recommend his removal, suspension, demotion, fine, censure, or prosecution, and ensure compliance therewith; or enforce its disciplinary authority as provided in Section 21 of the law, among others.

The ICI, on the other hand, does not have prosecutorial and contempt powers.

This means that the final authority on who gets to be charged with criminal and administrative cases is the Ombudsman, not the ICI.

Asked if the ICI is only a waste of resources given that the Ombudsman’s office already enjoys the authority of conducting a motu proprio investigation and prosecuting graft and corruption cases, de Lima said the limited ICI powers and Ombudsman’s office still not having a chief makes ICI and the passage of the law granting additional powers to the ICI a necessary.

“The infrastructure corruption involving flood control projects is of such magnitude that a single institution won’t be enough to hold people accountable. We really need the ICI, with enough powers and authority, as provided in our House Bill 4453,” she said.

"I actually brought it up already with a new Speaker and he's very open and very receptive about it that he will push for its speedy enactment and try to convince the President to certify it as urgent,” she added, referring to Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III. — BM, GMA Integrated News