Hole of Justice

By Peter G. Jimenea

“Karma”

The attempt by corrupt officials to nip my articles from coming out on line shows they are ready to gird for war. It is only our misfortune that two important offices having been tapped to lead the war against corruption are not working properly.

The Commission on Audit (COA) is a government watchdog barks but doesn’t bite. The Office of the Ombudsman too, which officials’ irresoluteness has earned them the mock title “ The Office of Monalisa,” courtesy of former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

Over the years, these two government offices have proved inefficient in handling crooks. COA tasked to peep on unauthorized spending of government funds has always failed to haul crooks and errant officials to the proper court of law.

On why, we have yet to know. But it creates an impression without affirming the perception that it is done in exchange for – you know what. In fact, some resident auditors covertly assist corrupt officials of the office in clearing their records for… just guess the rest!

Now here comes the people from the Office of Mona ehe, este Office of the Ombudsman. They are feared by government employees because of their powerful mandate in requiring them the filing of SALN (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth).

The failure to file SALN can suspend or dismiss from services a government official or employee. It has also jurisdiction over cases cognizable by the Sandiganbayan and may take over, at any stage, from any investigatory agency of the government, the investigation of graft cases.

What an investigative and prosecutory power of an office. Unfortunately, due to political intervention the many things they could do were set aside and left undone. The ones who get screwed in the end are the poor taxpayers - as usual.

I hate to imagine the laxity of officials in these offices because the government today seems to have been overrun by crooks. If we look at the cases filed in Court, justice has two faces, one for the poor and one for the rich who has plenty of leeway to cite the technicalities of the case. 

This is what happened to the failed Pavia Housing Project of the Iloilo City government. The case was filed in 2004 with the Office of the Ombudsman. But then mayor, now Cong. Jerry Trenas who abused the taxpayers’ money is still under further probe for his involvement in that scam to date!

The public must know because the one thing we all abhor is not a cheap shot. It involves your money, my money, our money or the taxpayers’ money. But look, the Deputy Ombudsman is still groping in the dark for a probable cause when the unauthorized payment of the mayor to the contractor is embraced in RA 3019.

On why the task to further probe the involvement of then Mayor Trenas is still sleeping in the office of Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol since August 2010, I believed he has a lot of explaining to do!

 He should know that it is only for him and government crooks that this neglect is good. Lest he forgets; qui peccat ebrius luat sobrius - he who offends when drunk shall be punished when sober. In a street-smart term “Karma.”

This writer understands on why some government officials tolerate brave words. For sure that is to save face. But what keeps Mr. Apostol in dangling his decision on this Pavia Housing mess? The tragedy is not his agony from the negative tirades, because until he did, we cannot rest our case!  

Hole of Justice

 by Peter G. Jimenea

 





Justice delayed is justice denied

 





The Office of the Ombudsman has a story that won’t easily go away. According to Ilonggo lawyer Atty. Romeo Gerochi, it is the Office of Monalisa, courtesy of Merceditas Gutierrez, the most despised office chief this country ever had.







Monalisa is a legendary portrait of a beautiful lady who became an obsession of men of their times. A song even tells of her story that so many dreams have been brought to her doorsteps but just lie there to die there.







The same is true to the graft cases sleeping in the office of Ombudsman Gutierrez. They seem only to disappear in the course of time. Eventually, she left her post in disarray but left us no guarantee that when she steps down all crooks will go with her!







Thus, what she left behind are deputies who overtly professed not their own belief. Never has there been official so derelict and irresolute in performance of duty than these deputies with large propensity to selective prosecution.







Take the case of Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol. For a P60,860 shortage in cash position of a revenue collection officer I of the Provincial Treasurer’s Office of Negros Occidental he slapped the poor lady with three months suspension without pay.







But the P137M Iloilo City housing project scam given to him by Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro in 2010 to further probe the involvement of then Mayor (now congressman) Jerry Trenas to this mess has no result to date.







True, injustice lies fairly in “delayed resolution” than an “erroneous decision” that can be appealed immediately. Sec. 13 of RA 6770, or the “Ombudsman Act of 1989” says, they are protector of the people and shall act promptly on complaints filed against public officials.







But they just give a runaround of this P137M Iloilo City Housing graft case at their office. Sec. 15 of RA 6770 dictates they shall probe and prosecute on their own any complaint filed by any person about an act or omission of any public official or employee when such act appears to be illegal, unjust, improper or inefficient.







Accordingly, they have the primary jurisdiction over cases cognizable by the Sandiganbayan and, in exercise of this jurisdiction, may take over, at any stage, from any investigatory agency of the government the investigation of such cases. What a power!







Yet, as easily gleaned only lowly government employees are easily indicted when the law says the Ombudsman shall give priority to complaints filed against high-ranking officials with grave offenses involving large sums of money and/or properties.







But look, the graft case filed regarding the construction of 413 houses for city hall employees in 2004 is still under further probe when not even a unit was seen to have been standing and completed. This creates an impression that it is deliberately delayed in exchange for - you know what!







Sec. 26, (par 2) - the Office of the Ombudsman shall act immediately on complaints filed and if it finds the same entirely baseless, then it shall dismiss the same and inform the complainant of such dismissal citing the reasons thereof. Then what delayed the Ombudsman in resolving the Iloilo City Housing mess?







The Ombudsman is also empowered to punish any person who filed a baseless complaint against government officials. If the complaint of Councilors Raul Gonzalez Jr., Antonio Pesina and Atty Romeo Gerochi against Trenas, et al are baseless, why hesitate to punish them?







If there is a reasonable ground to investigate further, furnish the respondent public officer with summary of the complaint and require him to submit a written answer within seventy-two hours from receipt thereof. If the answer is found satisfactory, the case shall be dismissed. But the Ombudsman failed to act on the case until now, why?



1



This false impression of a speedy disposition of cases actually results in miscarriage of justice. Justice delayed is justice denied and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales should know that her backyards are in shambles. If her deputies don’t understand what they are doing, she must tell them to resign. If they feel glued strongly on their seats, then throw the chairs out of the window with them!

Hole of Justice

 by Peter G. Jimenea

 





Justice delayed is justice denied

 





The Office of the Ombudsman has a story that won’t easily go away. According to Ilonggo lawyer Atty. Romeo Gerochi, it is the Office of Monalisa, courtesy of Merceditas Gutierrez, the most despised office chief this country ever had.







Monalisa is a legendary portrait of a beautiful lady who became an obsession of men of their times. A song even tells of her story that so many dreams have been brought to her doorsteps but just lie there to die there.







The same is true to the graft cases sleeping in the office of Ombudsman Gutierrez. They seem only to disappear in the course of time. Eventually, she left her post in disarray but left us no guarantee that when she steps down all crooks will go with her!







Thus, what she left behind are deputies who overtly professed not their own belief. Never has there been official so derelict and irresolute in performance of duty than these deputies with large propensity to selective prosecution.







Take the case of Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol. For a P60,860 shortage in cash position of a revenue collection officer I of the Provincial Treasurer’s Office of Negros Occidental he slapped the poor lady with three months suspension without pay.







But the P137M Iloilo City housing project scam given to him by Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro in 2010 to further probe the involvement of then Mayor (now congressman) Jerry Trenas to this mess has no result to date.







True, injustice lies fairly in “delayed resolution” than an “erroneous decision” that can be appealed immediately. Sec. 13 of RA 6770, or the “Ombudsman Act of 1989” says, they are protector of the people and shall act promptly on complaints filed against public officials.







But they just give a runaround of this P137M Iloilo City Housing graft case at their office. Sec. 15 of RA 6770 dictates they shall probe and prosecute on their own any complaint filed by any person about an act or omission of any public official or employee when such act appears to be illegal, unjust, improper or inefficient.







Accordingly, they have the primary jurisdiction over cases cognizable by the Sandiganbayan and, in exercise of this jurisdiction, may take over, at any stage, from any investigatory agency of the government the investigation of such cases. What a power!







Yet, as easily gleaned only lowly government employees are easily indicted when the law says the Ombudsman shall give priority to complaints filed against high-ranking officials with grave offenses involving large sums of money and/or properties.







But look, the graft case filed regarding the construction of 413 houses for city hall employees in 2004 is still under further probe when not even a unit was seen to have been standing and completed. This creates an impression that it is deliberately delayed in exchange for - you know what!







Sec. 26, (par 2) - the Office of the Ombudsman shall act immediately on complaints filed and if it finds the same entirely baseless, then it shall dismiss the same and inform the complainant of such dismissal citing the reasons thereof. Then what delayed the Ombudsman in resolving the Iloilo City Housing mess?







The Ombudsman is also empowered to punish any person who filed a baseless complaint against government officials. If the complaint of Councilors Raul Gonzalez Jr., Antonio Pesina and Atty Romeo Gerochi against Trenas, et al are baseless, why hesitate to punish them?







If there is a reasonable ground to investigate further, furnish the respondent public officer with summary of the complaint and require him to submit a written answer within seventy-two hours from receipt thereof. If the answer is found satisfactory, the case shall be dismissed. But the Ombudsman failed to act on the case until now, why?



1



This false impression of a speedy disposition of cases actually results in miscarriage of justice. Justice delayed is justice denied and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales should know that her backyards are in shambles. If her deputies don’t understand what they are doing, she must tell them to resign. If they feel glued strongly on their seats, then throw the chairs out of the window with them!

Hole of Justice: Public Distrust

Hole of Justice: Public Distrust: Hole of Justice by Peter G. Jimenea   Public distrust   Public disgust on the irresoluteness of officials of the Commission on Audit (C...

Hole of Justice: Public Distrust

Hole of Justice: Public Distrust: Hole of Justice by Peter G. Jimenea   Public distrust   Public disgust on the irresoluteness of officials of the Commission on Audit (C...

Public Distrust

Hole of Justice

by Peter G. Jimenea
 

Public distrust

 

Public disgust on the irresoluteness of officials of the Commission on Audit (COA) and the poor performance of few Deputy Ombudsman is slowly developing into a public distrust.

COA is a government watchdog that barks but doesn’t bite. After the audit of the Iloilo City government on December 2010, P821M of its P1.305 billion fund cannot be reconciled due to lack of documents or have no document at all.

It’s now 2012 but no report yet had been heard from the result of COA’s findings whether the discrepancies have been settled or a case had been filed in Court against those erring officials of Mayor Jerry Trenas’ administration.

The Ombudsman likewise failed to prosecute the officials involved in the highly anomalous P137M Iloilo City Government Housing Project for its poor City Hall employees.

The construction of 413 houses that started in 2001 ended in 2009 without even a unit standing and completed. The P120M contract was signed by then Mayor Mansueto Malabor but was turned over to Mayor Trenas for implementation.

                 

As the construction started, the obligation of the city government to the PNB (P125M plus interest) is suddenly transferred to Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB). On why only God knows but it incurred a P12M expense for documentation alone!

The P12M travel cost of bank documents in so short a distance from the PNB to the PVB can put the right senses of a crooked taxi driver in the brink of insanity. What justifies the transfer of that obligation if it will only cost us-taxpayers another P12M?

As to who shared the amount of loot, only God knows. But the P12M cost of transfer has increased the taxpayers’ burden from the P120M PNB loan plus P5M interest into a new P137M government obligation to the PVB.

Worse, the contractor was caught using substandard materials in building the houses. For that, the city council issued a unanimous resolution for the mayor to rescind the contract and sue Mr. Alex Trinidad, the contractor.

But Trenas ignored it and continued paying the contractor’s billing in millions. City councilors Raul Gonzalez, Jr. and Antonio Pesina filed a complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman against Trenas et al, in 2004, but it only slept there and worse, more likely to die there in the course of time!

But God is good. Eventually, the Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro resolved the case in 2010. He indicted only Mayor Malabor. Yet, despite the documented evidence at hand he finds no probable cause against Mayor Trenas.

Probable cause needs only to rest on evidence showing that more likely than not, a crime has been committed. It demands more than suspicion; requires less documents that would justify indictment.

The law says, there’s no general or fixed rule for determination of a probable cause. It depends to a large degree upon the finding or opinion of the one judging it. But in Sec. 26, (last par. of RA 677) if there’s no evidence to indict Trenas, why is the Ombudsman afraid to dismiss the case against him? Funny indeed!

This scam that had consumed the city for years seemed not good for the Court. But it could lead a prudent and reasonably discreet man to believe that an offense was committed. That unauthorized payments of the mayor to the contractor are embraced in RA 3019.

In Sec. 13, Mandate of RA 6770 or The Ombudsman Act of 1989, the Ombudsman and his Deputies as protectors of the people shall act promptly on complaints filed against any officer or employee of the government to promote efficient services to the people.

But COA and the Office of the Ombudsman had been treating us with a selective prosecution. Deliberate or not they overlooked the official accountability and responsibility attendant thereto. Perhaps, what is somewhat missing in the empty lives of these people is - to die with dignity!