Refreshing change coming

““I will not issue any sanction for now, but I will make it a point that the office of the receiving section will be shielded.

Newly appointed Ombudsman Samuel Martires is no Conchita Carpio Morales which is good for justice to reign in today’s Ombudsman’s Office.

Martires on his first day in his new role as the chief anti-corruption watchdog bared his plans to limit public information on the complaints filed before the Office of the Ombudsman to prevent “prosecution by publicity.”

This has always been a major injustice committed over and over again by Martires’ predecessor, especially whenever it came down to stage a full press trial and conviction by publicity against Carpio-Morales’ yellow patron’s political foes.

Martires told reporters that future complaints against erring public officials are to be treated with confidentiality, even stressing that he even would deny a complaint or an existing case when asked for confirmation by media.

“The public always has the right to know but give us first a room to investigate. There is always a limit to that right to information,” he said, adding that just because there is the FoI (Freedom of Information) for media, everything is to be bared by way of publicity.

He stressed that his office can always deny that a complaint was filed at the Office of the Ombudsman, which he said is to protect also the employee or official concerned, adding that he does not want to engage in “prosecution by publicity.”

Media are expected to complain about the Martires stance and will naturally bring up the FoI as stated in the Executive Order (EO) from the Palace.

Martires has a ready answer, saying that his new policy is not a violation of the FoI EO 2 as he pointed out that the public can still learn of any case against an official once it is filed with the Sandiganbayan.

“What did I violate by way of the FoI? Which is more important, the freedom of information or the rights of the person? This is not a simple case of rape or murder,” he argued.

However, while Martires can hardly stop media from reporting a complaint lodged by whoever since any notarized complaint, even prior to filing, is a public document and the complainant is free to answer media’s questions on his complaint against usually a high ranking former and current public officials, given his approach to deny the media reports on this, Martires will at least take the proper steps in ensuring that trial and conviction by publicity will not come from him and his office.

“Martires is a refreshing change from the very unfair and unjust stance of the former Ombudsman, Carpio Morales.

This stance of Martires is a refreshing change from the very unfair and unjust stance of the former Ombudsman, Carpio Morales who, along with the now detained Sen. Leila de Lima on illegal drug charges, ensured that her yellow President’s foes, especially the then three sitting senators, Juan Ponce-Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla would be charged with plunder, arrested and detained and prosecuted by publicity to the hilt to ensure their conviction, even going to the extent of her then office leaking to the media manufactured evidence and recommending crooks and confirmed perjurers as “star witnesses” despite the fact that the so-called evidence and testimony were fabricated and perjured.

Recall that even before the trial proper, even alleged bank records of the then sitting senators from the Anti-Money Laundering Council and the Ombudsman’s Office were leaked even when this was illegal and a criminal act, as cannot be published or reported by the media as the Anti-Money Laundering Act states.

No case was ever filed against the newspaper and reporters that committed this crime of trial and conviction by publicity and leakages of documents that are at times even manufactured by the Ombudsman’s Office itself.

Not even a warning to the media was made by Carpio Morales. She even allowed media to interview the complainants before or after a case has been filed. Even her Public Information officer and Media Relations Bureau also issued propaganda through press releases for the media.

Why then Ombudsman Carpio was engaged in her style of trial and conviction by publicity? She denies she is partisan and claims she is independent as well that she is practitioner of selective justice even when incontrovertible evidence stares her in the face.

She even went to the United States propagating the line of the proven guilt of the three senators in her speeches.

Martires is also mulling imposing sanctions on those officials and officers and employees from his office who grant media interviews before preliminary investigations.

“I will not issue any sanction for now, but I will make it a point that the office of the receiving section will be shielded, will be away from the media so we can always deny that a particular complaint was filed,” he said.

It’s time for the Ombudsman and his office to prove their independence, their non-partisanship and dump selective justice that Morales had engaged in. True justice may just emerge—finally.