Ombudsman Samuel Martires has a valid reason to state recently that he did not see any offenses Vice President Sara Duterte committed in her face-off with her tormentors at the House of Representatives over the use of her confidential and intelligence funds (CIF), since he was also subjected to such tactics.

The terrorist New People’s Army (NPA) sympathizers at the House of Representatives, called the Makabayan bloc, have been weaponizing the CIF issue to hunt down, apparently with blessings from some powerful forces, perceived allies of former President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte.

“As far as we are concerned right now, we have not seen any acts of the Vice President that we should investigate. We do not find anything that was in violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act or of any offenses in the Revised Penal Code that is in relation to the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act,” according to Martires.

In a mismatched encounter during a 2024 budget deliberation, the Makabayan convict France Castro tried to corner Ombudsman Samuel Martires, who is among the targeted allies of the Dutertes. This resulted in exposing her sheer ignorance.

Partylist Alliance of Concerned Teachers Rep. Castro, convicted of a child abuse complaint and currently out on bail, tried to shackle Martires, a former magistrate of the Supreme Court and the Sandiganbayan, over the use of his office’s CIF.

Castro asked the Ombudsman if his office submits receipts for the use of the CIF, to which Martires retorted: “If you require an agency to submit receipts for the CIF, then it is no longer a confidential fund.”

The Ombudsman’s reply appeared to have incensed Castro, as it elicited guffaws from the gallery. She told the former magistrate that his reply was “not funny.”

Castro then tried to lecture Martires about a “joint circular,” which she claimed required the issuing of receipts to itemize the use of the CIF.

Martires countered that since he became the sixth Ombudsman in 2018, nobody had asked him to produce receipts for the use of the CIF.

Her other question to Martires was, “How often does the Ombudsman conduct a lifestyle check?” presumably within the agency.

An exasperated Martires said, “With due respect, your honor, I just wanted to ask a question: Is there any law that requires agencies in government to conduct a lifestyle check?”

Castro then rattled off figures about the previous disbursements of the CIF of the Office of the Ombudsman, to which Martires said that if he could engage with the intelligence community without incurring any expenses, his office would gladly oblige.

“If we can obtain their services to help us investigate with just a smile, why not? So if we can save money, we will do it.”

Martires said his office would try to survive with the small amount provided for the CIF.

Castro is reveling in her role as an attack dog against the Dutertes since it was during the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte that she, along with Makabayan chairperson Satur Ocampo, was convicted by the Tagum City Regional Trial Court of child abuse in a case involving 14 minors in Talaingod, Davao del Norte.

The case stemmed from a November 2018 incident when a group led by Castro and Ocampo was accused of holding 14 students at the Salugpungan Ta’tanu Igkanugon Community Learning Center Inc., where they supposedly held a solidarity mission.

The Salugpungan school was suspected as a breeding ground for NPA guerillas.

Castro, an iconoclast, is now lording it over the House, which should make those responsible for it seriously contemplate what they have done.