Fighting corruption

A hundred mayors have launched a good governance movement. That’s a surprising reaction to Baguio City Mayor Benjie Magalong’s desperate cry for a stop to massive corruption at the local government level.

The movement includes Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, Marikina City Mayor Marcy Teodoro, Isabela de Basilan Mayor Sitti Hataman, Dumaguete City Mayor Ipe Remollo, Kauswagan Mayor Rommel Arnado, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, Muntinlupa Mayor Ruffy Biazon, Navotas Mayor John Rey Tiangco, and Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, among others.

According to Mayor Magalong, he didn’t expect this spontaneous reaction and he expects this to “be a lonely, tough, and difficult uphill battle.” He warned the mayors in the group that character assassination might come to righteous leaders.

The movement is also urging the public to demand good governance from their political leaders, saying the public should not ignore corruption, but should think of the future of their children.

Isabela de Basilan Mayor Sitti Hataman said they were able to address stunting, convince rebels to surrender, and improve tourism through good governance and transparency initiatives. She said good governance should not just be a measure of leadership, but something the people should demand from their leaders.

The fight against corruption seemingly got a boost with the Ombudsman’s approval of a recommendation to file graft charges against three former officials of the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) responsible for the purchase of COVID-19 test kits from Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation.

The Ombudsman’s office found that former PS-DBM executive director Lloyd Christopher Lao, former procurement group director Warren Rex Liong, and former procurement management officer Paul Jasper De Guzman had caused undue injury to the government worth P4.165 billion. The resolution mentioned three tranches of contracts entered into with Pharmally for RT-PCR test kits amounting to P600 million, P688 million, and P2.877 billion.

The Ombudsman noted that the accused apparently acted with manifest partiality and in bad faith for unlawfully awarding the contracts to Pharmally, a newly incorporated corporation without any business experience with the government. Interestingly, one of the accused was promoted by Duterte to deputy Ombudsman after the scandal broke. That’s in-your-face chutzpah probably meant to assure no one will be punished for corruption.

The investigation of the Ombudsman stemmed from the complaint filed by former senator Richard Gordon and Senator Risa Hontiveros, who both conducted Senate inquiries on the contract. The amount involved in the series of contracts was said to top P42 billion that was transferred by DOH to PS-DBM to buy supplies. The Senate managed to follow only P11 billion worth of anomalous deals, and only P4 billion worth are covered in the Ombudsman’s decision.

Since the amounts involved are above P50 million, shouldn’t the case be the non bailable plunder charge? And why were the supposed masterminds identified in the Senate report not included in the charge? Strangely too, the Anti Money Laundering Council saw nothing while billions were being moved from a local bank.

While this Pharmally decision is welcome, we must keep our eyes focused on the Ombudsman who can change the decision after the story is out of the headlines.

Legal experts warn that the case looks half-hearted and may be designed for acquittal. A lackluster prosecution can lead to dismissal as we have seen in many other corruption cases. The success rate of the current Ombudsman in prosecuting cases is just over 50 percent.

It took the Ombudsman over three years to decide on the Pharmally case that was thoroughly investigated by the Senate. Yet, it took them just two months to dismiss the GM of NAIA and disqualify him for public office for a case that did not involve any loss of public money. The only basis was an anonymous complaint supposedly for abuse of authority in reassigning employees.

Cesar Chiong, was dismissed by the Ombudsman for exercising the normal management prerogative of assigning personnel.

Chiong reassigned 201 personnel, who were never prejudiced, as they were not demoted in rank nor did they incur any diminution in their pay. Two previous MIAA general managers – Jose Angel Honrado and Eddie Monreal – reassigned 646 and 397 personnel, respectively, during their watch, but they were never accused of misdoings nor were they ever suspended or dismissed for doing so. Additionally, 800 rank and file airport personnel declared in a public manifesto that “only now have they experienced transparent and honest management in the agency.”

Prominent business executives from the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) disputed the conclusion of the Ombudsman that Chiong was guilty of “abuse of discretion” that were “prejudicial to the service”.

The business executives pointed out that during Chiong’s watch, “the MIAA has attained a robust cash balance of P15 billion due to efficient receivables collection. This enabled the MIAA to achieve a net income of P1.9 billion in 2022, a striking turnaround from the combined losses of P3.6 billion it suffered in 2020 and 2021. Notably, the airport processed passenger numbers that surged from 7.8 million in 2021 to around 31 million in 2022, with NAIA expecting to handle close to 47 million passengers by the end of this year.”

The businessmen observed that these remarkable accomplishments should be commended.

It is easy to suspect the unseen hand of politics and/or vested interests with ulterior motives behind the Ombudsman’s strange decision. Remember somebody wanted Chiong’s job and actually got the President to appoint him without the knowledge of the DOTr Secretary. The appointment of the “wanna-be” was rescinded after Transport Secretary Jimmy Bautista complained.

As if trying to recover from this blunder with Chiong, the Ombudsman announced an order for the preventive suspension of DepEd and PS-DBM officials over the procurement of “outdated and overpriced” laptops for teachers. But only one DepEd official is still in the service, the usec for finance.

The responsibility for fighting corruption belongs to the Ombudsman. We hope he delivers, but his track record isn’t good. The Ombudsman has made it almost impossible for citizens to look into SALNs of public officials.

Fighting corruption in the public service is difficult. It is more so if the agency tasked to lead the fight doesn’t seem fully committed to the mission.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X (Twitter) @boochanco