Office of the Ombudsman needs additional 360 lawyers

with competence & integrity

The Office of the Ombudsman needs an additional 360 lawyers but has been strict
in screening applicants as the agency puts premium on their competence and integrity in
fulfilling the mandate of the agency.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales told members of the House Committee on
ppropriations chaired by !ep. "sidro #ngab $3
rd
%istrict& %a'ao City( during the hearing
on the Office of the Ombudsman)s proposed *+.,3 billion budget for -0+.& that the
agency presently has 363 lawyers and needs 360 more lawyers.
s/ed by !ep. 0us Tambunting $-
nd
%istrict& *ara1a2ue City( why the agency
cannot fill up the lawyer-positions& Morales said while there ha'e been many applicants&
the agency has been strict in chec/ing their competence and integrity.
3There are many applicants but we ha'e to be 'ery strict . 4ou ha'e to first pass
competence and second integrity $tests(. "f you don)t pass both& ")m sorry& it)s better to
ha'e none than to ha'e plenty who are not competent to discharge the mandate of the
Office of the Ombudsman&5 Morales said.
The salary is also a factor in the slow recruitment of lawyers& according to Morales.
3"t also has to do with the pay. 6ntry le'el is competiti'e& but you /now in the Office of
the Ombudsman& you ha'e to ha'e three years e7perience in order to get a lawyer-position
li/e in other offices. That can be wai'ed if you are an e7ceptional lawyer&5 she said.
The Office of the Ombudsman)s primary mission is 3to promote integrity and
efficiency and high ethical standards in public ser'ice through proacti'e approaches in
graft pre'ention and public assistance& prompt in'estigation of complaints and aggressi'e
prosecution of cases filed against erring public officials and employees.5
Tambunting also 2ueried about the con'iction rate of the Office of the Ombudsman
in the 8andiganbayan. Morales said that for -0+3& it was 99 percent.
2uestion from !ep. :rancisco shley cedillo $*arty-list& Magdalo(& who left the
budget hearing early& was read by !ep. ;a'ier <esus !omualdo $=one %istrict& Camiguin(.
cedillo as/ed why the Office of the Ombudsman)s con'iction rate was 2uite low
compared to some of the country)s neighbor countries or places.
cedillo said that "ndonesia has a con'iction rate of ,0 percent while Hong >ong
has a ?0 percent con'iction rate.
NR # 3573
AUG 29, 2014
Morales said in so far as "ndonesia is considered& they claim that their con'iction
rate is +00 percent but the sub@ects of the cases are all from the Central Offices. 3Only the
officers and officials from the Central Offices are indicted. !emember that "ndonesia is a
big country but the >*> is concentrating only on officials in the city of <a/arta&5 Morales
said. The >*> is the Corruption 6radication Commission of "ndonesia.
Meanwhile& as far as Hong >ong is concerned& she said the number of prosecutors
'is-A-'is the population is such that there are so many prosecutors for a particular segment
of the population. 3"n our case& if we fill up all the positions& there will be @ust 600 plus
lawyers for a population of +00 million& we are under staffed. Bow if you propose to
increase our budget to double than what we are proposing& " am sure we will increase our
personnel and we will of course e7pect to increase our con'iction rate&5 Morales said.
Members of the appropriations committee agreed to support the Office of the
Ombudsman)s re2uest to restore or pro'ide the office an additional budget of *+60 million
for the followingC *+0 million for confidential funds of the OMD-Central OfficeE *.0
million for supplies and materials and professional ser'ices accounts for OMD-=uFon&
OMD-Gisayas& OMD-Mindanao& OMD-MO=6O and the Office of the 8pecial *rosecutorE
and *+00 million for capital outlay for the construction of the OMD-Mindanao Duilding.
!ep. !ufus !odrigueF $-nd %istrict& Cagayan de Oro City( said the additional *+60
million is a small amount that should be granted by lawma/ers. He proposed the insertion
of the 8pecial *ro'ision on the #se of "ncome which was granted to the OMD pursuant to
!epublic ct +0633 or the 0eneral ppropriations ct of -0+9 to read as followsC Use of
Income, The Office of the Ombudsman may use the income generated from fees
collected by it, subect to the conditions under the pertinent sections in the !eneral
"ro#isions of this $ct and for purposes as maybe specifically authori%ed therein or by
applicable pro#isions of law&'
#ngab said such has been granted in the -0+9 budget and& the committee will
include it in its report for possible amendment. 3")m sure the committee will support that&5
#ngab said.
The *+.,3+ billion proposed budget of the OMD for -0+.& as recommended by the
%epartment of Dudget and Management and appro'ed by the *resident& is 3.9H percent
lower than this year)s *+.,?9 billion budget. The decrease is due to the reduction in the
e7penditure program considered by the %DM as non-recurring e7penses. $30( rbb