MANILA — For seven years in a row since 2000, local government units (LGUs) topped the list of agencies with the most number of cases filed against their officials and employees before the Office of the Ombudsman in 2017.
In a report released by the Ombudsman’s Finance and Management Information Office (FMIO) on Friday, the LGUs topped the 2017 list with 3,189 cases — 265 cases for provinces; 1,849 for cities/municipalities; 1,065 for barangays; and 10 for unclassified LGUs.
The figure is 12 percent higher than the 2,799 cases recorded in 2016.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) came in second with 939 cases, which is 8 percent lower than the 1,022 cases filed against PNP officers and employees in 2016.
On the Top 5 list of government agencies with the most number of cases are the Department of Education with 310 cases, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) with 184 cases, and state universities and colleges with 117 cases. These cases are criminal and/or administrative in nature.
The FMIO also reported that in 2017, the Ombudsman filed a total of 2,477 cases before the Sandiganbayan, 1,457 of which are indictments against local government executives and personnel.
The other cases are against the Metro La Union Water District in San Fernando, La Union with 200 cases; Department of Budget and Management, 194; House of Representatives, 141; Oroquieta Water District, 98; Department of Finance, 45; Department of Agriculture, 44; and Philippine National Construction Corp., 40.
The FMIO bared that the following government agencies have pending cases filed with the Sandiganbayan: the Philippine Sports Commission (39), Philippine Postal Corp. (19), Armed Forces of the Philippines (12), DENR (12), Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (12), Bureau of Fire Protection (11), and PNP (11). (Perfecto Raymundo, Jr./PNA)
