By Benjamin Pulta | Philippine News Agency
Incoming Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said Tuesday he wants the Office of the Ombudsman to be more open to the general public about its undertaking.
“(I want to bring in) transparency and a lot of action. Transparency, more openness from the office. I think the people want to know, gustong malaman ng [taumbayan] ‘yung ginagawa ng Ombudsman kaya ipapaliwanag natin sa kanila ‘yung ating ginagawa para malaman naman ng mga kababayan natin na may ganoong opisina ang gobyerno,” he said in a press briefing at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“Magkakaroon ng media office. I think there will be more interviews and news coming from the Ombudsman’s office when we start there. I think it’s a necessity sapagkat ‘yung tao naghahanap talaga ng transparency at accountability sa taumbayan.”
Remulla, who is set to take his oath on Thursday, underscored the Ombudsman’s non-prosecutorial duties to ensure the government does its job.
“Hindi lang naman ito prosecutorial, it’s also as a voice of the people, ‘yung mga kinakailangan gawin ng gobyerno ay dapat sinusubaybayan din ng Ombudsman,“ he said.
He added that the ongoing collaboration between the DOJ and Ombudsman will continue, especially in the filing of cases against public officials below Salary Grade 27 before the regional trial courts.
He said he will also adopt his innovations made in the DOJ National Prosecution Service (NPS) to evaluate cases filed before they are actually pursued to avoid instances of nuisance suits.
“Siyempre dapat taasan ‘yung standard, sabi ko nga dapat mawala ‘yung weaponization ng office. Dapat d’yan talaga hanapan ng ebidensiya at ‘yung ebidensiya [ay] matibay,” Remulla said.
“Ang gusto natin continuous trial para mabilis at iigsian natin ang taktika. Susubukan natin maibsan, mabawasan ‘yung mga taktika na pagde-delay ng kaso,” he said, noting that the tendency of the accused is to delay the case and then say they were denied the right to a speedy trial.
“Dapat dito talaga ‘yung benchmarking ng lahat ay magawa para bilisan natin ang trial ng kaso, ayusin ang ebidensiya para tuloy-tuloy ang takbo.”
Meanwhile, Remulla assured that the pending case against Vice President Sara Duterte in connection with her confidential funds will undergo a thorough evaluation.
“Nandiyan na yan, eh. Actually, nandiyan naman na sa [Office of the Ombudsman] ang mga report na ‘yan at bubuklatin natin, pag-aaralan at tatanungin natin ‘yung mga may hawak ngayon at ‘yung mga may tungkulin na hawakan ‘yung mga kasong ‘yon bago tayo tumuloy,” he said.
In the meantime, Remulla said Justice Usec. Fredderick Vida will be the officer-in-charge of the DOJ.
Vida, who is the undersecretary-in-charge for the Financial, Administration and Personnel Cluster, was a former mayor of Mendez-Nuñez town in Cavite province.
