Hole of Justice

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?



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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!