MANILA, Philippines — Ombudsman Samuel Martires has defended the low output of his office when it comes to the number of cases filed against government officials at the Sandiganbayan.
In a phone interview with The STAR, Martires said the Sandiganbayan’s record “is not reflective of the Office of the Ombudsman’s total output for the year.”
Martires made the statement in response to The STAR’s request for his reaction to the statistical report released by the Sandiganbayan’s Judicial Records Division last week.
The report showed that his office was only able to file 138 cases at the anti-graft court from January to December 2024, its lowest output since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when it filed only 117 cases.
Martires, who is set to retire this year, explained that part of the reason for the fewer cases being lodged at the Sandiganbayan was the expanded jurisdiction of the regional trial courts (RTCs) following the enactment of Republic Act 10660 or “An Act Strengthening Further the Function and Structural Organization of the Sandiganbayan in 2015.”
He said the ombudsman has, in fact, filed more cases at various RTCs than at the Sandiganbayan in both 2024 and previous years.
“There are a lot of cases that do not reach the Sandiganbayan as they were filed at the RTC because of the expanded jurisdiction of the regional trial courts,” Martires said.
“For example, if the undue injury to the government is less than P1 million, the RTC now has jurisdiction even if the case involves a high-ranking official,” he added.
Under Section 2 of RA 10660, which introduced amendments to the Sandiganbayan’s functions and structural organization, RTCs now have exclusive jurisdiction over cases that do not allege “any damage to the government or any bribery,” or when the amount of the alleged damage to the government or bribery arising from the same or closely related transactions does not exceed P1 million.
Martires, however, said he is still waiting for the final report on the total number of cases filed and resolved at the RTCs for 2024 as the prosecution of the cases, particularly those filed outside Metro Manila RTCs, is being handled by the prosecutors of the Department of Justice. — Daphne Galvez