THE OMBUDSMAN’S Office was established by the 1987 Constitution.
Article XI Sec 5 says:
‘There is hereby created the independent Office of the Ombudsman…’
The important word is ‘independent’. This means that the Ombudsman is not some middle-ranking government official. Instead, he is someone who is answerable to no-one. His standing is determined by the Court of Public Opinion which evaluates whether his pronouncements are worthy of consideration and respect.
‘Independent’ means, according to the New Oxford American Dictionary, ‘free from outside control; not dependent on another’s authority.’ I can assure readers that my articles entitled ‘An Independent View’ are, indeed, independent.
The word ‘Ombudsman’ is originally Danish. Its role is to protect the ordinary private citizen from the neglect that can arise when his communications with government instrumentalities are treated with inappropriate neglect or disdain.
It is no coincidence that Denmark has almost the lowest level of corruption of any country. Maladministration is recognized and acted upon by the Ombudsman.
In the Philippines, the Constitutional definition of the Ombudsman is wider.
For example Art XI Sec 13 (I) says:
‘The Office of the Ombudsman shall have the following powers, functions, and duties: Investigate on its own or on complaint by any person, any act or omission of any public official, employee, or agency, when such act appears to be illegal, unjust, improper, or inefficient.’
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This brings us to the Jed Mabilog case. I wrote an article on this which was published by PN on Oct 31, 2017. I said, amongst other things, that “Mabilog’s net worth as stated in his 2013 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) was P68 million. In 2012,his net worth was P59 million. The gain of P9 million during 2012-2013 seems to irk the Ombudsman’s Office”.
The Ombudsman assumed that since Mabilog and his wife did not, between them, earn P9 million, then clearly they were engaged in malpractice. Not at all, I said. The gain is 15 percent which is well within what one can expect from judicious investments. In a good year we can expect such an appreciation from the stock market or from property.
I was disturbed that Mabilog’s SALN data was used by the Ombudsman to assert that he is guilty of corruption unless he can prove himself innocent. ‘This is not the cornerstone on which our legal system is based.’ I said.
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On June 11 this year, many years after the Ombudsman was publicly excoriating Mabilog, the Court of Appeals (CA) reversed the decision issued by the Office of the Ombudsman on Aug 27, 2019.
I believe that the current Ombudsman should comment on the CA’s decision. We appreciate that the Ombudsman of 2021 is not the same person who ordered Mabilog’s dismissal for serious dishonesty, but nevertheless the Ombudsman’s office has lost credibility for the decision to dismiss Mabilog.
The Philippines ranks very low in the corruption league table. This is due, in part, to the inability of government to punish the guilty but exonerate the innocent./PN
