GARGANTUAN TASK: NEW OMBUDSMAN TO TACKLE 1,000 GRAFT CASES EVERY MONTH
[PHOTO - NEW OMBUDSMAN CARPIO-MORALES TAKES OATH]
MANILA, JULY 30, 2011 (STAR) By Michael Punongbayan - Newly appointed Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales is facing the gargantuan task of attending to more than 1,000 graft and other complaints monthly or an average of 13,000 cases annually for the next seven years.
The figure is on top of several high-profile cases such as the plunder complaints against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
As the country's chief graft buster whom everyone expects to work better and faster than her predecessor Merceditas Gutierrez, she, her deputies and other officials and lawyers of the anti-graft agency will have to review each and every charge sheet.
Of the 13,000 complaints received by the Office of the Ombudsman yearly, past records show that around 80 percent are mere nuisance cases that still need to be identified and eventually dismissed.
Carpio-Morales, who paid officials and employees a surprise visit on Tuesday just 18 hours after President Aquino confirmed her appointment in his State of the Nation Address before Congress, has already asked for an inventory of pending cases.
Gutierrez, who gave in to pressure and resigned on May 6 ahead of an impeachment trial by the Senate, could not be reached for comment on her replacement.
But the Office of the Ombudsman's spokesman during her term, former assistant ombudsman Jose de Jesus Jr., said he wishes the new ombudsman well.
"She will try to improve everything in that office and show herself in history as having made a difference," he told The STAR.
"Let us pray for her to succeed," De Jesus, who, being a coterminous official, stepped down the same day that Gutierrez vacated her post.
Among the other big cases yet to be resolved by the Office of the Ombudsman are the noodle scam case of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the plunder complaints against members of the Ampatuan clan of Maguindanao.
Lighter load
Fortunately, Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro, in his short stint as acting ombudsman from May 9 to June 15, has lightened the case load that Carpio-Morales inherited.
In his report to President Aquino, he said he was able to dispose of 4,500 complaints and filed more than 76 cases before the Sandiganbayan, including high profile cases that fall under the category of grand corruption.
Those indicted by Casimiro include 12 former and incumbent governors, more than a dozen former and sitting mayors, four ranking police and military officials including former Armed Forces of the Philippines comptroller Jacinto Ligot, and other high-ranking government officials led by former justice secretary Agnes Devanadera.
"After 21 years in public service, the undersigned is profoundly grateful for the opportunity to serve the institution even in an acting capacity," Casimiro told the President, noting that the Office of the Ombudsman "shall fully support the flagship program of the administration on anti-corruption as defined under the Philippine Development Plan."
Apart from new and pending cases at the Office of the Ombudsman, Carpio-Morales, a retired Supreme Court associate justice, will also be handling cases already filed and are being heard by the Sandiganbayan.
Controversial cases currently on trial include the plunder case against former agriculture secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. and former undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante who are facing charges for their involvement in the fertilizer fund scam of 2004.
Also being heard by the Sandiganbayan are the graft charges against former elections chief Benjamin Abalos and former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director general Romulo Neri.
The new ombudsman is also coming in with the controversial plunder case against former military comptroller Carlos Garcia still in court even though it is almost already submitted for decision.
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has apparently failed to stop the plea bargaining agreement between government lawyers and the accused which has allowed the latter to plead guilty to lesser crimes in exchange for surrendering some P135.4 million in unexplained wealth despite being originally accused of stealing P303 million.
P-Noy's prop
Meantime, the lawyer of Arroyo yesterday said Carpio-Morales was merely used as a "prop" by President Aquino when he delivered his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Congress last Monday.
Raul Lambino, Arroyo's legal spokesman, said contrary to Malacañang's pronouncement that Aquino will not use any props in his SONA like what his predecessors did, "they used Justice Carpio-Morales when her appointment as the new ombudsman was announced."
"There is no need for the President to make an announcement because we already knew about it even before Carpio-Morales retired from the Supreme Court," Lambino said during yesterday's weekly Balitaan sa Aloha Hotel in Manila.
Lambino said the selection process done by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) was a mere compliance with the Constitution.
"P-Noy had already made a choice prior to Carpio-Morales' designation," said Lambino.
But as Lambino criticized the President's SONA, retired Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal said the mention of his name in the same speech and Aquino's gratitude to Church officials for cooperating with the government have made him consider reviving talks with Malacañang on the Reproductive Health bill.
Test cases
The militant peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) yesterday challenged Carpio-Morales to act with dispatch on three high-profile cases pending before the Office of the Ombudsman that involves former President Arroyo and President Aquino's relatives.
"The P728-million fertilizer fund scam, the plunder case against Eduardo 'Danding' Cojuangco Jr., and the Hacienda Luisita massacre are three high-profile cases that would put to test Ombudsman Carpio-Morales' independence and integrity," said KMP secretary-general Danilo Ramos.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary-general Renato Reyes said the new ombudsman has at least a year to do an inventory of cases and attend to charges filed against Arroyo. – With Sandy Araneta, Rhodina Villanueva, Evelyn Macairan
Ex-general in plunder case to head BuCor (The Philippine Star) Updated July 29, 2011 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Retired Lt. Gen. Gaudencio Pangilinan Jr. (photo) took his oath as new director of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) yesterday afternoon, with the promise to stop the occurrence of crimes and provision of special privileges in the national penitentiary.
After his oath taking before Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Pangilinan said he was specifically instructed by the President to resolve pressing concerns on the proliferation of crimes involving drugs and prostitution inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
"The alleged proliferation of drugs and prostitution is the most pressing concern of the secretary. And we'll follow the policies she already instituted," he said.
He also vowed there would be no special treatment for moneyed inmates of NBP.
"Definitely, everybody will be treated fairly, humanely and squarely," he said.
Pangilinan said he still has to examine the systems in the bureau before deciding on new policies covering the improvement of systems and administrative reorganization.
"It's a totally different picture from what I grew up with in the military, so I have to adjust," he said.
Pangilinan, a member of Philippine Military Class of 1979, was appointed to replace Ernesto Diokno despite having been implicated in plunder charges filed by retired Lt. Col. George Rabusa, the former military budget officer who exposed the alleged corruption in the Armed Forces.
He retired from the service last week, his last assignment being commander of the Northern Luzon Command based in Aquino's home province of Tarlac.
De Lima, however, believes there is nothing wrong with Pangilinan's appointment. The DOJ, where he faces a plunder case, has supervision over BuCor.
"There is a process for that. And if ever he would be indicted, there are remedies," she explained, citing the principle in law that a respondent in a case is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Pangilinan, for his part, already answered the allegations of Rabusa, which he claimed were "fabrications."
"We will answer that in the right forum," he stressed, referring to the preliminary investigation being conducted by a DOJ panel on the complaint.
"We are professionals. Even if I'm with DOJ, we will not tamper or attempt to influence the people of the panel," he said.
In Rabusa's complaint filed last April, Pangilinan was accused of being one of the 17 military officials – including three former military chiefs – who purportedly pocketed at least P50 million in government funds.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Pangilinan's appointment could be rescinded if there would be evidence against him in the plunder case.
"It's something we can easily dissolve. But in the meantime, we believe in his competence, in his ability to reform the Bureau of Corrections," he said.
Pangilinan is the third retired military officer under the Aquino administration appointed to a civilian post.
The two others are retired AFP chief Gen. Ricardo David who is now commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration, and former acting AFP chief Lt. Gen. Nestor Ochoa who is now ambassador to Brunei.
It was learned that when Pangilinan was the chief of the AFP's Counter-Intelligence, his unit investigated the alleged financial anomalies committed by Rabusa.
This effort resulted in a full military investigation that led to the placement of Rabusa under house arrest.
The head of the NBP said he is looking forward to meeting Pangilinan.
In a phone interview, Superintendent II Ramon Reyes said he plans to seek Pangilinan's help in addressing the lack of personnel, jail congestion, and salary increase.
Reyes said they only have 1,300 personnel guarding 13,000 inmates. – Edu Punay, Jaime Laude, Aurea Calica, Aie Balagtas See
FROM THE DAILY INQUIRER
Despite raps, Palace stands by its new man at BuCor By Christine O. Avendaño Philippine Daily Inquirer 8:46 pm | Thursday, July 28th, 2011
MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Thursday stood by President Benigno Aquino's choice of just-retired Lieutenant General Gaudencio Pangilinan Jr. as the new chief of the Bureau of Corrections despite the fact the appointee is facing a plunder charge in the Department of Justice.
Saying that Aquino believed Pangilinan would be able to reform the bureau due to his strong counterintelligence background, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda added that "more than (giving him) the benefit of the doubt, it's a man presumed to be innocent until proven guilty."
Pangilinan was among the military officers charged early this year with plunder by Army Lieutenant Colonel George Rabusa for their alleged involvement in fund anomalies in the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
In a press briefing, Lacierda said there was "no hesitation at all" on the part of the President in appointing Pangilinan despite the plunder complaint in which Rabusa accused Pangilinan of being the "bagman" of the late AFP Chief of Staff Arturo Enrile.
The President signed Pangilinan's appointment papers on July 19, or three days before he retired as chief of the Northern Luzon Command on July 22. Pangilinan is a member of Philippine Military Academy Class 1979 and his field of specialization is intelligence and operations.
Lacierda initially said that Rabusa's lawyers made a mistake in filing a plunder complaint against Pangilinan because plunder was not yet a crime when the general served as executive assistant to Enrile in 1995. But Lacierda took back what he said when informed that plunder was already a crime in 1991.
Anyway, he said, Pangilinan had submitted his counter-affidavit and, "constitutionally speaking, a man is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty."
Lacierda denied Pangilinan was part of the "KKK" or "kakampi, kaklase, kabarilan" (party mates, classmates, shooting buddies)" of Aquino.
"(Pangilinan) is not close to the President … we would like to disabuse the public that he is part of the alleged KKK," Lacierda said.
As for the President following the practice of the previous administration of naming retired generals to the Cabinet, he said: "It depends on [their] qualifications."
Lacierda said Aquino's marching orders to Pangilinan were to "reform the agency … fix the BuCor, including those who tend to get out of jail and come back without proper authority."
Asked how Pangilinan's expertise in counterintelligence would help him reform the agency, Lacierda said there were "a lot of things going on in there that we were not aware of and it is something (the President) would like Mr. Pangilinan to really get to the bottom of … all the shenanigans in the BuCor."
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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