The country has struggled to make progress because officials seek to enrich themselves through public office, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said.

“If they want to get rich, the government should not be where they look for a job; they should just build businesses outside of government,” the Ombudsman expressed during a press conference on Friday, 17 July.

Remulla called on citizens to become more involved in questioning public officials who had a clear “conflict of interest” in their positions.

The official, who was also a former congressman in the House of Representatives, emphasized that there remains a persistent issue of contractors entering Congress to influence and manipulate laws in their favor.

He said that such developments clearly undermined laws primarily designed to combat conflicts of interest, particularly those contained in Section 3(h) of Republic Act 3019.

Under the said law, any public officer is prohibited from having “direct or indirect financial interests” in any transactions, business, or contracts that they intervene in the conduct of their official duties at their post.