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Bill seeks to let Ombudsman deputize private prosecutors

January 18, 2017 | 9:21am

Bill seeks to let Ombudsman deputize private prosecutors

MANILA, Philippines — Kabayan party-list Rep. Harry Roque filed a bill on Tuesday that authorizes the Office of the Ombudsman to assign the prosecution of cases to private lawyers.

House Bill 4754 seeks to amend the Ombudsman Act of 1989 to allow private lawyers to work with the Office of the Ombudsman under the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

"This is a proffered solution to the spate of dismissals of cases filed by the Ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan," Roque, who has been a private prosecutor in non-graft cases, said in a press release.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor filed 1,250 cases against public officials from January to November 2016 before the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court, with most of the cases dealing with graft and the malversation of government funds.

In its 2015 annual report, the Office of the Ombudsman claimed a conviction rate of 75 percent of 225 cases disposed that year. In contrast, the conviction rate in 2014 was just 37 percent.

However, the Sandiganbayan dismissed several "big fish" cases in 2016, including the graft case against former president now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo, former Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos and former National Economic and Development Authority Director General Romulo Neri over the scrapped national broadband network deal with Chinese firm ZTE.

The Sandiganbayan's Fourth Division said there was insufficient evidence in the case.

Last December, the Office of the Ombudsman dropped charges against former president Arroyo as well as former Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and others in a case involving the alleged diversion of the P900-million Malampaya fund, also for insufficient evidence.

Former Agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Jocjoc" Bolante has also been cleared by the Sandiganbayan's Second Division in the P723-million fertilizer fund scam that Bolante was accused of arranging.

READ: Sandiganbayan dismisses NBN-ZTE graft case vs Arroyo | GMA cleared in Malampaya Fund scam; Andaya, Napoles charged | Bolante cleared in fertilizer fund scam

Roque, however, said that the Senate and the Ombudsman have previously investigated the cases and found the evidence to be sufficient.

"Of late, it is most worrisome that the Office of the Special Prosecutor had lost cases against so-called ‘big fish,’ three of which are cases that were either filed by the undersigned, or cases where the undersigned had involvement in the filing of cases,"

Roque said that while private prosecutors are allowed to participate in the civil aspect of the case, private lawyers are not allowed to so in the Sandiganbayan, hence the filing of the proposed bill.

Through the bill, the deputized lawyers will work under the Office of the Special Prosecutor and will be under its supervision, authorized by the Ombudsman.

A compensation structure shall be instituted based on the work evaluation studies to be approved by the Ombudsman.

"“The Ombudsman shall prepare a compensation structure to conform as closely as possible to the principles for in Republic Act 6758 or the Salary Standardization Act," Roque said.