OMBUDSMAN Conchita Carpio Morales said various initiatives of the Office of the Ombudsman have led to significant accomplishments, adding that it aims to have zero backlog by year 2018.
Despite a 2-percent increase in new cases filed, the number of cases awaiting action by the court has decreased by 16 percent, she said.
Speaking before the recent Metrobank Foundation Professional Chair for Public Service and Governance, Morales credited the agency’s effort to strengthen its institutional capacity and increase work efficiency, including the rationalization of the functions of various bureaus, the filtering of complaints filed, and assessment of processes of key government agencies in terms of risks and vulnerability to corruption.
The efforts resulted in the resolution of 6,707 administrative and criminal cases in 2015, she said.
“The Ombudsman is concerned not only about the disposition of complaints filed before the Office. It still has to mind cases it filed with the Sandiganbayan and regular courts as well as its task of promoting awareness on good governance and campaigning for sound public administration,” Morales said.
Recognizing that the most important stakeholder in the battle against corruption is the Filipino people, the Ombudsman has also taken steps to mobilize broader support for its work.
“A paradigm shift in people’s perspective is needed to make most effective the reforms installed in various institutions,” she said.
“One does not need to be a member of the civil service or to hold an appointive or elective post in government to be a public servant.”