The order of Ombudsman Samuel Martires to dismiss year-old cases still at fact-finding level can only benefit “corrupt” government officials to the prejudice of not only the complainants but also of the taxpayers, too, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers on Tuesday said.
In a radio interview, NUPL lawyer-spokesperson Cristina Yambot challenged Martires to sanction Ombudsman investigators asking for “parking fees” or “tara,” and conduct an inventory of cases and their status, instead of deliberately dismissing all complaints that are still undergoing fact-finding investigation after more than a year.
“Why not have an inventory of investigators who have pending cases? Why not hold them liable? Why dismiss cases that are under investigation? That move [dismissal] would only cause delay if we refile and refile dismissed cases to the prejudice of the complainants as well as of the public,” she said.
“At the end of the day, the loser is the people awaiting justice against corrupt public officials. A public office is a public trust,” she added.
Yambot argued that should Martires push through with his plan, the complainants would badly suffer from the negligence of the investigators for his failure to swiftly resolve administrative and criminal complaints filed against erring public officials.
“Why is there a need to file a [dismissed] case when the complainant is not the cause of the [inordinate] delay?” she added.
“There have been cases that are work in progress. Why massively dismiss all complaints, including these cases?” she asked.
“Not only [negligent] fact-finding probers are spared from any culpability if [one-year-old] cases are dismissed, but also public officials who could be involved in corruption, [such as in the P900-Malampaya fund scam],” she said.
During a budget hearing in Congress, Martires said that he would issue an order dismissing all cases that are more than a year old but are still being investigated.
He said the complainants could still refile the charges “without prejudice.”
Responding to a Supreme Court's order that the reckoning period for a speedy case disposition must start from the preliminary investigation stage.
At least 135 cases have been dismissed by the Sandiganbayan for inordinate delay, he said.
Martires said he would soon issue an office order to shorten the period for a preliminary investigation to only 90 days.
Previously, investigations did not have any time limitations.
Martires vowed to terminate all motions for reconsideration within 60 days, and that he would make the investigation officers liable to explain why a case could be resolved beyond the 60-day deadline.
He also promised to end the practice of dismissing or suspending a public official through the resolution of counter-affidavits.