Luzon Ombudsman vows action vs. corrupt officials
DOUBLE-BARRELED DRIVE
NEWLY-appointed Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Gerard Mosquera vows to strengthen the satellite office’s field investigation and the prosecution of cases to increase chances of securing a conviction against corrupt government officials in support of the eight-point roadmap of the Office of the Ombudsman.
Speaking during the Office of the Ombudsman’s weekly radio program “Ombudsman Ngayon”, Mosquera likened the two components to a double-barreled shotgun.
“Kung malakas ang ebidensiyang nakalap ng field investigators, at mahuhusay ang ating mga prosecutors, mas malaki ang chances to secure convictions,” he said
Mosquera said that upon his assumption as DO for Luzon, his observation was that “we have a very strong manpower complement”, although he was quick to acknowledge that OMB-Luzon may need up to 30 lawyers to attain and sustain a zero-backlog in the disposition of cases, which is among Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales’ eight-point agenda.
INVENTORY
Mosquera also said he has already ordered an inventory of all pending cases filed to determine the areas in his jurisdiction where the bulk of the cases originate.
“Dito natin malalaman kung saan ilalagay ang limited resources na meron tayo to achieve a certain level of impact”, he said.
He also bared plans to promote ongoing reforms in OMB-Luzon, “may konting innovation, konting addition”, to make it more effective.
Mosquera also intends to aggressively pursue “Oplan Multo sa Gobyerno”, one of the pioneer anti-corruption programs of Ombudsman Morales to weed out ghost employees.
He said he also intends to promote a “whistle-blowing culture” by citizens to report (through text or email) corrupt activities, particularly ghost employees in government agencies and unlawful acquisition of wealth by public officials and employees.
“Pag merong nakitang katiwalian, it’s our civic duty, hindi lang pagkuwentuhan, kung hindi magsumbong, para magkaroon ng pagbabago,” he said.
(“Ombudsman Ngayon” airs every Wednesday, 10-11 a.m. over government-run radio station DZRB- Radyo ng Bayan 738 khz).
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