Ombudsman indicts more public officials in 2022

MANILA, Philippines — Work seemed to have gone back to normal at the Office of the Ombudsman as it was able to indict more public officials before the Sandiganbayan in 2022 compared to the previous year.

Based on third quarter data, the Sandiganbayan Judicial Records Division received 209 cases from the ombudsman from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30 this year, breaching the 163 cases filed by the ombudsman in 2021. The Sandiganbayan is yet to release its fourth quarter data for 2022.

Ombudsman Samuel Martires had earlier admitted that the COVID-19 pandemic hampered the agency’s investigative work and resolution of cases because of a series of closures of its main office and regional offices after a big number of employees tested positive for the virus.

The ombudsman filed a measly 117 cases at the Sandiganbayan in 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic. It was the agency’s lowest feat since 2007 when only 93 cases were filed under then ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

As in previous years, 2022 recorded the most number of cases filed with 104 for violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act while 86 for malversation of public funds.

Meanwhile, 13 were appealed cases which were originally decided by regional trial courts before being elevated to the Sandiganbayan.

Among the cases lodged by the ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan in 2022 were graft charges against over 40 officials of the Bureau of Immigration in connection with the so-called pastillas scam, wherein143 foreign nationals, mostly Chinese, were allowed entry into the country from 2017 to 2020 without undergoing immigration procedures supposedly in exchange for money.

But while the ombudsman’s figure for 2022 was an improvement compared to the past two years, it was still far from the feat of Martires’ predecessor, former ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, whose office was able to file 1,311 and 2,513 cases in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Martires officially took office on Aug. 6, 2018 replacing Morales, who retired on July 25, 2018 after completing a seven-year term.

Based on the Sandiganbayan’s previous annual report, the ombudsman filed only 178 cases from August to December 2018, a drop of 81 percent from 978 cases filed during the same period in 2017 under Morales’ term.

In 2019, the first full-year term of Martires and before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, the ombudsman was only able to file 198 cases at the Sandiganbayan.

Martires earlier told reporters that he would focus more on investigation and evidence gathering to ensure that state prosecutors have strong evidence against incumbent and former government officials to avoid dismissal of cases in the court.

Meanwhile, the Sandiganbayan’s third quarter report for 2022 showed that it was able to resolve more cases compared to the previous year.

The record showed that the anti-graft court has already breached its previous year’s performance with 597 resolved cases as of Sept. 30, from 366 resolved cases in 2021.

The Sandiganbayan’s record showed that as of Sept. 30, there were 104 accused individuals acquitted of their cases after full blown trial, 69 accused whose cases were dismissed without trial and 36 individuals whose cases were dismissed in the course of the trial.

On the other hand, 54 individuals were convicted after trial while 26 voluntarily pleaded guilty.

The anti-graft court was able to slightly trim down the number of pending cases to 2,503 as of Sept. 30 from 2,956 at the beginning of the year.

The Office of the Ombudsman is the agency tasked to build up cases and prosecute former and incumbent public officials allegedly involved in corruption and other offenses, while the Sandiganbayan is a special court that has the mandate of hearing cases.