EDITORIAL - Sana all

That was impressively swift and decisive action on the part of the Office of the Ombudsman in the case of Alice Guo. Only last May 31, the ombudsman had ordered the six-month suspension of the mayor of Bamban, Tarlac and two town officials in connection with graft charges linked to a Philippine offshore gaming operator or POGO hub in Bamban.

Last Tuesday, the ombudsman ordered the dismissal of Guo. Bamban Vice Mayor Leonardo Asuncion, business permit and licensing officer Edwin Ocampo and municipal legal officer Adenn Siquia were also found guilty of conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and suspended for three months. The same penalty for the offense was also imposed on nine former and incumbent municipal council members. Those who are no longer in government must pay a corresponding fine.

Guo was ordered dismissed even as the Senate, the Office of the Solicitor General and the Commission on Elections are still conducting probes on Guo related to her alleged fake Philippine citizenship and suspected links to criminal activities in the Bamban POGO.

The ombudsman has moved quickly on high-profile cases, such as the graft case filed against Bureau of Immigration officers implicated in the so-called pastillas scheme wherein 143 Chinese nationals were waved through airport immigration in exchange for a fee. In 2022, the ombudsman dismissed 45 immigration personnel charged in the scam.

But in other cases, action has been slow. So slow, in fact, that the Office of the Ombudsman has lost several cases in court due to “inordinate delay” in its prosecution. In some cases, there is no action at all. The public, for example, is awaiting action by the ombudsman on the “ghost employee” scandal that led to the resignation of two members of the Monetary Board, Anita Linda Aquino and V. Bruce Tolentino.

Are MB members above the law? Other government workers with much lower salaries and retirement benefits have gone to prison for putting ghost employees on their payroll. An internal probe of the MB scandal was supposedly conducted, with the findings submitted to Malacañang. Is the Office of the President sweeping the case under the rug? Even if it does, the Office of the Ombudsman can conduct a probe on the case motu proprio. Considering the critical role played by the MB in sound fiscal governance, its members should be held to a high standard of exemplary behavior in public service.

The speedy action in the case of Alice Guo is good. If this could be the normal pace of Philippine justice, it would be cause for national jubilation. It would be even better if the zeal and speedy pace seen in the case of Guo would be applied equally, with no sacred cows. Sana all.