ABSTRACT
Our country has long been fettered by a culture of graft and corruption. Systematic studies and research had long been conducted to preferably measure the gauge of graft and corruption here in the Philippines. This essay purports to understand the nature of graft and corruption here in the Philippines. This essay will discuss the brief history of the Ombudsman as well as the programs and functions they performed. This will also highlight the significant role played by the Ombudsman in combating graft and corruption practices although faced with different issues and controversies. Furthermore, this essay will argue that scientific management had been a useful tool in curbing graft and corruption practices. Lastly, this essay will have recommendation that will probably lend a hand to the Ombudsman in curbing graft and corruption practices.
The Role Played by the Ombudsman in Curbing Graft and Corruption Practices in the Philippines
[The King] shall protect trade routes from harassment by courtiers, state officials,
thieves and frontier guards…[and] frontier officers shall make good what is lost....Just as
it is impossible not to taste honey or poison that one may find at the tip of one's tongue,
so it is impossible for one dealing with government funds not to taste, at least a little bit,
of the King's wealth.
—From the treatise The Arthashastra, by Kautilya (chief minister to the king in ancient
India), circa 300 B.C.–150 A.D.
One of the lingering problems that have plagued the Philippines is how to curb corruption and other forms of particularistic behavior in our government. Corruption is a widespread phenomenon. It undermines good governance, erodes the rule of law, hampers economic growth and distorts competition in business transactions. It raises serious moral and political concerns. It also distorts the social and human values (Batalla, 2006. pg 1). The government of the Philippines had an Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, as well as a Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards serves as guidelines for Public Officials and Employees. Aside from that, their also exist the Office of the Ombudsman; the Commission on Audit; and the Civil Service Commission. However, it is the Office of the Ombudsman that has given much discretion to answer the graft and corruption issues. The Office of the Ombudsman is basically considered as the primary anti-corruption agency. It is a special prosecutor, distinct and independent from the national prosecution service under the Department of Justice (Batalla, pg.2). But how did the Ombudsman handle the issues of graft and corruption? What are the methods and strategies applied by the office in order to attain their goals? Is scientific management used in the investigation, graft prevention prosecution and administrative adjudication in curbing graft and corruption? Does scientific management helps the Ombudsman in curbing graft and corruption? If so, why is it that our country has still ranked as one of the most corrupted country in the world?
Scientific management can be described as “an approach within classical management theory that emphasizes the scientific study of work methods in order to improve efficiency in the government” (Nelson, 1998, pg.41). This theory is developed by Frederick W. Taylor who at the same time, considered as the father of scientific management. According to Frederick W. Taylor, there was one and only method of work that maximized efficiency. And this one best method and best implementation can only be discovered through scientific study and analysis. This involves the gradual substitution of science for “rule of thumb”. Furthermore, scientific management requires first, a careful investigation of each of the many modifications of the same implement, developed under rule of thumb; and second, after time and motion study has been made of the speed attainable with each of these implements, that the good points of several of them shall unified in a single standard implementation, which will enable them to work faster and with greater easy than he could before (Taylor, 1911).
In the book by Alfiler, (2000), he asserts that in every action or investigation, it has already been a presumption that scientific study has been equipped with it in order to come up with a valid data and a valid facts. But is this presumption also available to the undertaking of the Office of the Ombudsman? This essay will try to explore how the Ombudsman had been created and how scientific management helps them through the process of combating graft and corruption practices. This essay will argue that the Ombudsman played a very important role in the society today; it somehow sifts particularistic behavior practiced by public officials today. Furthermore, this essay will argue that if the Ombudsman wasn’t created there had totally been more and more corruption in the Philippines. But by doing so, the author of this essay first will present the history, programs and functions of the Ombudsman in order to understand the nature and scope of the Ombudsman. But despite the anti-graft and corruption agencies why it is that corruption still exists? What else need to be done? The author of this essay, prepared recommendations that will probably will help handling the issue of graft and corruption practices.
Brief History of the Ombudsman
The concept of Ombudsman originated in Sweden in the early 19th century, referring to an officer appointed by the legislature to handle the people’s grievances against administrative and judicial actions. He was primarily tasked with receiving complaints from persons aggrieved by administrative action or inaction, conducting investigation thereon, and making recommendations to the appropriate agency based on his findings. He relied mainly on the power of persuasion and the high prestige of the office to effect his recommendations. However, the present Philippine Ombudsman departs from this classical Ombudsman model (Ombudsman site, 2007).
In the Philippines, several Ombudsman-like agencies were established by past Presidents to serve as the people’s medium for airing grievances and seeking redress against abuses and misconduct in the government such as Integrity Board (Pres. Quirino), Presidential Complaints and Action Commission (Pres. Magsaysay), Presidential Committee on Administration Performance Efficiency (Pres. Garcia), Presidential Anti-Graft Committee (Pres. Macapagal), Presidential Agency on Reform and Government Operations and the Office of the Citizens Counselor (both under Pres. Marcos). These agencies, however, failed to realize their objective for they did not enjoy the political independence necessary for the effective performance of their function as government critic. Their powers are also limited to fact-finding and making recommendations. Thus, the framers of the 1973 Constitution saw the need to constitutionalize the office of an Ombudsman, to give it political independence and adequate powers to enforce its recommendations. The 1973 Constitution (Cruz, 2004, Section 6, Article XIII) mandated the legislature to create an office of the Ombudsman to be known as Tanodbayan. Its powers are not limited to receiving complaints and making recommendations, but also include the filing and prosecution of criminal, civil or administrative cases. Pres. Marcos, who was then exercising legislative powers under Martial Law, issued a law to implement this constitutional mandate. Under the 1987 Constitution, a new Office of the Ombudsman was created. The Tanodbayan became the Office of the Special Prosecutor, which continued to exercise powers except those belonging to the Office of the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman, which is intended to be independent and autonomous constitutional body, is armed with the power to prosecute erring public officers and employees. The Ombudsman has an active role in the enforcement of laws on anti-graft and corrupt practices, as well as other offenses committed by government officers and employees. The present Ombudsman, designated under the constitution as the “Protector of the People”, is charged with five major functions - Public Assistance, Graft Prevention, Investigation, Prosecution and Administrative Adjudication. The framers of the Constitution defined the role of the Office of the Ombudsman as a watchdog, to monitor the “general and specific performance of government officials and employees.
THE OMBUDSMAN'S STRATEGY AGAINST GRAFT AND CORRUPTION
The figure shows the framework used by the Ombudsman in order to curb graft and corruption in the Philippines. The explanation of this would be further explained as the author of this essay continues to discuss the programs and the functions of the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman was a post-EDSA political innovation, guided by the idea of an independent institution empowered by the constitution to serve as a watchdog against the abuse of public office. There are several efforts that focus on the intriguing causes of corruption identified by the Ombudsman. They are (1) individual causes which are attributed values among bureaucrats, such as materialism, lack of integrity and nationalism. (2) Organizational causes refer to deficiencies in the bureaucratic apparatus such as low salary, poor recruitment and selection procedures and red tape in government; and (3) societal causes where corrupt behavior is itself the norm of society (Lubrero, 2007)
The Programs and Major Functions of Ombudsman
In giving life to the theory of scientific management, the Ombudsman has five (5) major functions which indeed justify the postulation of Frederick Taylor. The Ombudsman in performing their functions used scientific study and analysis in order to come up with a valid data and facts. In a chat with one of the officials of the Ombudsman Cebu City Branch, there has always been a scientific method that was applied in the investigation of any case. According to him, all the cases that were handled by them will all be muddle if they will not apply scientific management on it. He acclaimed at the end of the interview that the handling of the issue in the Ombudsman depend solely on the application of scientific management. All of the five (5) major functions of the office were equipped with scientific analysis and methods.
As shown in the above figure, the investigative function of the Office involves determination of violations of the anti-graft laws by public functionaries through fact-finding or evidence gathering. It also includes the finding of probable cause through formal preliminary investigation for the purpose of prosecution (Balboa,2007. pg.1). For example, in graft prevention, the Office of the Ombudsman has the authority to prevent the commission of graft by ordering or stopping the implementation of government contracts that are found to be disadvantageous to the government. Under its administrative adjudication function, the office has the authority to conduct administrative penalties where the erring public official or employee including Cabinet Secretaries may be suspended or dismissed from public service. It holds disciplinary authority over all government functionaries, except the president and members of congress and the judiciary and other impeachable officials. In all other criminal cases, however, all public officials and employees, without any exception are under the Ombudsman’s investigative jurisdiction. In its effort to solve the twin evils of graft and corruption, the Office of the Ombudsman employs a two-pronged strategy: the confrontational approach and the psychological approach (Balboa, 2007. pg. 2). The confrontational approach involves the administrative and criminal investigation and prosecution of erring members of the bureaucracy. In this regard, a number of criminal cases were filed in the Sandiganbayan involving high-ranking officials and about 2,500 cases referred to the ordinary courts involving low-ranking members of the bureaucracy (Ombudsman site, 2007). To complement this capability, the Inter- Agency Consultative Committee with the Commission on Audit (COA), Civil Service Commission (CSC), Philippine Commission Against Graft and Corruption (PCAGC), and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) have been formed and organized for effective coordination. As part of the strategy, the tripod system was adopted to enforce honesty and efficiency. This system includes the establishment of Corruption Prevention Units (CPUs), Junior Graftwatch Units (JGUs) and installation of the Offices of the Resident Ombudsman. The CPU’s were organized to broaden community participation and serve as the Ombudsman’s eyes and arms, closely monitoring critical and substantially funded government projects and/or transactions in their respective areas of concern. They also serve as a front desk to receive and facilitate requests for assistance, complaints, or reports of any anomalous or corrupt practices. In addition, the CPU’s work hand-in-hand with the Office of the Ombudsman in promoting the objectives of the latter through the conduct of various activities involving community participation, such as consultative workshops, symposia, seminars and conferences, developing moral values of honesty, as well as educating the public on preventive measures in its fight against graft and corruption. At present, about 200 CPU’s have been already organized from among civic-minded non governmental organizations. The Junior Graftwatch Units (JGU’s) have been organized to mobilize the youth (both at high school and college level, including the out-of-school youth) in the fight against graft and corruption, by encouraging them to become the primary coordinating arm of the Ombudsman with respect to the educational and motivational projects involving youth, and as an effective ally of the Office of the Ombudsman. All over the country, there are already seven hundred and seventy-four (774) Junior Graftwatch Units accredited by the Ombudsman (Lubrero, 2007. pg.3-4). These are organized to develop and strengthen their instinct of goodness and idealism which is anchored in the principle that a child who grows up in an environment of honesty will be difficult to corrupt when s/he attains maturity. The Office of the Ombudsman believes that in empowering the citizenry to practice their innate virtues of honesty and uprightness, and getting them involved in the Ombudsman’s struggle for the right values, we can expect a citizenry with even stronger moral fiber in the future. The Office’s graft prevention efforts are directed at sustaining the support of all sectors of Filipino society, which is a healthy sign of empowering the citizenry in nation building. It has likewise installed Resident Ombudsmen (ROs) in 22 important departments of the government to serve as watchdogs and guardians of integrity and efficiency. They closely monitor the performance of government functionaries, thereby producing strong deterrence to bureaucratic corruption and inefficiency. The psychological approach adopted has been designed to create and nurture an environment of integrity in the Philippine society. This proceeds from the principle that corruption cannot thrive in a milieu of honesty. This approach, which has a long-range objective, is expected to have a lasting effect because it aims to develop a strong moral fiber for the citizenry. For this purpose, the Office has worked with the Department of Education on introducing graft prevention modules that will teach students old Filipino values of honesty and integrity. It has forged an agreement with the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) to ascertain that corrupt practices pictured in movie films and television programs have redemptive values or punishment of the corrupt. Orientation seminars for new government entrants are also conducted to provide a deeper understanding of public service values and of the accountability attached to their positions in the government. It has continuously conducted values orientation seminars/workshops to enhance organizational effectiveness and strengthen the moral fiber of the personnel (Balboa, 2007. pg. 3).
ISSUES AGAINST OMBUDSMAN
The Office of the Ombudsman has also its own controversies and issues. Although it is considered to be one of the primary agency to undertake graft and corruption practices, there still controversies saying that the Ombudsman is not worthy to be called as anti-corruption agencies because the office of it alone proves that there has to be inefficiency in their own jurisdiction. While the Ombudsman enjoys broad power supposedly to create strides in the crusade of the country against corruption, assessment concluded that its performance is far from general expectations. Taking from Ades (2001), there has to poor evaluation of the Ombudsman, first its mediocre record in its dispensation of cases and credibility problems that haunted those that were appointed in this institution. Second, the dismal performance could mainly be attributed to the unsatisfactory disposal rate that inevitably produced a huge backlog of cases annually. Ahmed (2000) attributed this lackluster record on the inadequate human, technical and financial resources that beleaguered the agency. Third, a low disposal and sanction rate ultimately impinges upon the ability of the government to “police” its own ranks. Fourth, the public perception that it the Ombudsman is an agency not to be trusted to curb graft and corruption practices. This is because there is apparent lack of credibility of officials being appointed to leadership positions in this agency of constraint. Take for example; previous ombudsmen were accused of being unfit of being a public defender given their previous association with the martial law regime. Fifth, the Ombudsman has also been accused of being against the public interest by protecting highly controversial cases of people associated with the Marcos regime and other powerful interests. Lastly, an ombudsman almost faced impeachment when a complaint was filed that accused him of bribery and the mishandling of the plunder case against former president Estrada (Aquino, 1999)
For the Ombudsman, these issues and problems were just nothing. Taking form the article of (Lubrero, 2007) in the interview that he conducted, they said that there has to be a lot more important thing to solved and to consider than to gave a glance to this kind of issues. This in the author’s point of view is the best answer to every agency that faces issues like this. This is in turn gave credit to the Ombudsman as the primary and leading anti-graft and corruption agencies. Without them, there could perhaps be more and more corruption in our country.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
The role played by the Ombudsman is very significant in our society today. It continued to curb graft and corruption practices even though it was met by different issues and controversies along the way. The Ombudsman as described above comprehensively set laws that may have ascertained all the possible instances of graft and corruption. From the investigation stage down to the very last stage it can be summarized that scientific management had been its backbone to come up with a valid data and facts. Scientific management was used by the office of the Ombudsman in order to improve more efficiency in the government. This was achieved through the five (5) major functions they performed. As noticed above, the Ombudsman make it sure that there has to be data gathering and facts finding before making a conclusion. In other words, scientific study and analysis had been established first before making a finale disposition. Hence, scientific management had been used by the office to displace the “rule of thumb”. One of the significant roles of the Ombudsman today was the double effort of the officials in making relative investigation. If the office of the Ombudsman is not too keen in making analysis, there could be no identified number of cases filed today in courts with the issue of graft and corruption. Another vital role of the Ombudsman today, is the tripod system that was adopted to enforce honesty and efficiency in the government. This system includes the establishment of Corruption Prevention Resident Ombudsman and Junior Graftwatch Units. If there’s no CPU’s that exists as of today, who would be responsible for monitoring critical and substantially funded government projects or transactions? Who would be responsible to serve as a front desk to receive and facilitate our requests for assistance, complaints, and reports of any anomalous or corrupt practices? Another important role played by the Ombudsman is the creation of Junior Graftwatch Units. It becomes the marshal of the youths in the fight against graft and corruption. If there could have been no Ombudsman who would probably be coordinating arms of the youth? Who would probably be the fuel of our youth in becoming a better citizen with honesty and integrity as there principle? There could be countless vital roles that the Ombudsman played as of today. And the roles performed by the Office of the Ombudsman could be compared to a table. A table could not function if one leg of it was destroyed. The same is true with the Office of the Ombudsman; our government could be crippled if the Office of the Ombudsman be shattered. There could be more and more graft and corruption if there could be no anti-graft and corruption agency that will cut off the particularistic behavior of the public officials. They just have to strengthen and take a closer look to the following recommendations that may perhaps be helpful in combating graft and corruption practices here in the Philippines. Moral Reform could be the first one that the author of this essay could recommend.
In designing reform programs, it is important to identify the discretionary control rights at the disposal of politicians and bureaucrats. The majority of politicians are clean; civic minded citizens, but a significantly corrupt minority can take a large toll on an economy. Typically, the main activities in need of reform are those that involve discretion, including: the issuance of licenses, permits, quantitative import restrictions (quotas), passports, customs and border-crossing documentation, and banking licenses; the implementation of price controls; the blocking of entry to new firms and investors and the provision of monopoly power; the awarding of public procurement contracts; the granting of subsidies, soft credits, tax exemptions, and inflated pensions and the allowing of tax evasion; the imposition of foreign-exchange controls resulting in multiple exchange rates, the over invoicing of imports, and the flight of capital; the allocation of real estate, grain storage facilities, telecommunications, and power infrastructure; the discretionary application of socially desirable regulations such as those that apply to public health and the environment; and the maintenance of obscure or secret budgetary accounts as well as other "leakages" from the budget to private accounts. The discretionary control rights of officials can be sharply curtailed through a package of
Economic reforms. After Moral Reforms, the enforcement of law should be followed. The Philippines has an impressive number of laws to tackle practically all cases requiring fast actions. However, the enforcement of these laws leaves much to be desired. The retention of officials whom the President’s anti-graft agency itself recommended to be removed suggests lack of political will and the priority of partisanship over the public interest. This would have provided an occasion for articulating the Administration’s ethical vision, catching a big fish, and warning everyone that the leadership means business. The people expect not only the equal enforcement of the law, but also more strictness on persons perceived to be in the President’s inner circle. Next step to do is to strengthen better Public Administration. The management approach started under the Aquino administration should be continued and improved. Persons in decision-making positions should be trained and encouraged to think strategically. The challenge is to use whatever capacity there is towards work that is focused on enhancing the public interest. There is also a need to institutionalize some of the efforts that have been put into enhancing accountability since 1986. This means the support of agency reform measures, as well as the establishment of new procedures, to pave the way for cleaner administration. Followed by the improvement of transparency and at the same time accountability in the government. Make transparency real, allowing civil servants and the public to access information in government. A question hour in Congress or a radio-TV program with questions and comments to be answered by executive officials may help inquiries into any aspect of their policies and performance. Reports of investigations should be made available to the public. The support of the mass media in these endeavors, accompanied by their own efforts at reforming their ranks, would be crucial to the success of these efforts. Accountable performance would be supported if the public is informed about what the agency does and why. It is a means of ensuring that the personnel themselves know its mission. At the same time, both they and the public would also then understand the reasoning behind what seem to appear only as red tape. Information sharing - particularly of steps in service delivery - also makes it unnecessary for the client to seek out a ‘fixer’. Open transactions can build a sense of partnership between the government and the people the agencies serve. And lastly, it could have been the enhancement of the role of the people. There is a need for popular involvement in ethics and accountability. Paying the proper taxes, obeying regulations, being well informed about government services - these are only the first steps in moving to a disciplined but democratic society. In addition, support for politicians who promote causes rather than just their charm and personality would also make the line of accountability clearer. The development of parties with coherent platforms should then be a focus of people’s participation, to tie up with the reforms suggested above. These are all in addition to the encouragement of NGOs that are non-partisan in exposing corruption and bringing violators to justice. The start of many of these measures has already been made. They are in tune with democratic principles, as well as the culture. One hopes that many more financial, human and moral resources will be placed at the service of accountability in the country so that our country, the Philippines, could be a graft-free and corrupt-free country.
References
Ades, A. 2001. The Causes and Consequences of Corruption: A Review of Recent Contribution. IDS Bulletin, Vol. 27. Nos. 2: 6-8)
Ahmed, B. 2000, Government Malpractices, Volume 2, Dhaka University Press Limited.
Alfiler, B. 2000, ‘Administrative Measure Against Bureaucratic Corruption’, The Philippine Journal of Public Administration, Volume 23. No. 3 & 4, Retrieved last: September 30, 2007. Available at: http://www.Philpubadmin/345iy2.org//45
Aquino, B. 1999, Politics of Plunder. The Philippines Under Marcos, Great Books Trading and UP College of Public Administration.
Balboa, J. 2007, ‘Graft and Corruption Practices in the Philippines’ September 27, 2007, Available at: http://www.livinginthephilippines.com/prevention_graft_corruption65824792
Batalla, E. 2006, ‘The Social Cancer: Corruption As A Way of Life, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Retrieved last September 27, 2007.
Cruz, I. 2004, Philippine Political Law, Central Lawbook Publishing Co.,Inc. Metro Manila Philippines.
Lubrero, E. 2007, ‘All About Ombudsman’ The Daily Star, Retrieved last: September 30, 2007. Available at: http://www.philstar.com
Ombudsman Site, 2007, “Origin of The Ombudsman”. Retrieved last: October 02, 2007. Available at: http://www.ombudsman.gov.ph.
Nelson, D. 1980, Taylor and Scientific Management, New York: Harper.
Taylor, F.W. 1911, The Principle of Scientific Management, Madison: The University of Wasconsin Press.
Our country has long been fettered by a culture of graft and corruption. Systematic studies and research had long been conducted to preferably measure the gauge of graft and corruption here in the Philippines. This essay purports to understand the nature of graft and corruption here in the Philippines. This essay will discuss the brief history of the Ombudsman as well as the programs and functions they performed. This will also highlight the significant role played by the Ombudsman in combating graft and corruption practices although faced with different issues and controversies. Furthermore, this essay will argue that scientific management had been a useful tool in curbing graft and corruption practices. Lastly, this essay will have recommendation that will probably lend a hand to the Ombudsman in curbing graft and corruption practices.
The Role Played by the Ombudsman in Curbing Graft and Corruption Practices in the Philippines
[The King] shall protect trade routes from harassment by courtiers, state officials,
thieves and frontier guards…[and] frontier officers shall make good what is lost....Just as
it is impossible not to taste honey or poison that one may find at the tip of one's tongue,
so it is impossible for one dealing with government funds not to taste, at least a little bit,
of the King's wealth.
—From the treatise The Arthashastra, by Kautilya (chief minister to the king in ancient
India), circa 300 B.C.–150 A.D.
One of the lingering problems that have plagued the Philippines is how to curb corruption and other forms of particularistic behavior in our government. Corruption is a widespread phenomenon. It undermines good governance, erodes the rule of law, hampers economic growth and distorts competition in business transactions. It raises serious moral and political concerns. It also distorts the social and human values (Batalla, 2006. pg 1). The government of the Philippines had an Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, as well as a Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards serves as guidelines for Public Officials and Employees. Aside from that, their also exist the Office of the Ombudsman; the Commission on Audit; and the Civil Service Commission. However, it is the Office of the Ombudsman that has given much discretion to answer the graft and corruption issues. The Office of the Ombudsman is basically considered as the primary anti-corruption agency. It is a special prosecutor, distinct and independent from the national prosecution service under the Department of Justice (Batalla, pg.2). But how did the Ombudsman handle the issues of graft and corruption? What are the methods and strategies applied by the office in order to attain their goals? Is scientific management used in the investigation, graft prevention prosecution and administrative adjudication in curbing graft and corruption? Does scientific management helps the Ombudsman in curbing graft and corruption? If so, why is it that our country has still ranked as one of the most corrupted country in the world?
Scientific management can be described as “an approach within classical management theory that emphasizes the scientific study of work methods in order to improve efficiency in the government” (Nelson, 1998, pg.41). This theory is developed by Frederick W. Taylor who at the same time, considered as the father of scientific management. According to Frederick W. Taylor, there was one and only method of work that maximized efficiency. And this one best method and best implementation can only be discovered through scientific study and analysis. This involves the gradual substitution of science for “rule of thumb”. Furthermore, scientific management requires first, a careful investigation of each of the many modifications of the same implement, developed under rule of thumb; and second, after time and motion study has been made of the speed attainable with each of these implements, that the good points of several of them shall unified in a single standard implementation, which will enable them to work faster and with greater easy than he could before (Taylor, 1911).
In the book by Alfiler, (2000), he asserts that in every action or investigation, it has already been a presumption that scientific study has been equipped with it in order to come up with a valid data and a valid facts. But is this presumption also available to the undertaking of the Office of the Ombudsman? This essay will try to explore how the Ombudsman had been created and how scientific management helps them through the process of combating graft and corruption practices. This essay will argue that the Ombudsman played a very important role in the society today; it somehow sifts particularistic behavior practiced by public officials today. Furthermore, this essay will argue that if the Ombudsman wasn’t created there had totally been more and more corruption in the Philippines. But by doing so, the author of this essay first will present the history, programs and functions of the Ombudsman in order to understand the nature and scope of the Ombudsman. But despite the anti-graft and corruption agencies why it is that corruption still exists? What else need to be done? The author of this essay, prepared recommendations that will probably will help handling the issue of graft and corruption practices.
Brief History of the Ombudsman
The concept of Ombudsman originated in Sweden in the early 19th century, referring to an officer appointed by the legislature to handle the people’s grievances against administrative and judicial actions. He was primarily tasked with receiving complaints from persons aggrieved by administrative action or inaction, conducting investigation thereon, and making recommendations to the appropriate agency based on his findings. He relied mainly on the power of persuasion and the high prestige of the office to effect his recommendations. However, the present Philippine Ombudsman departs from this classical Ombudsman model (Ombudsman site, 2007).
In the Philippines, several Ombudsman-like agencies were established by past Presidents to serve as the people’s medium for airing grievances and seeking redress against abuses and misconduct in the government such as Integrity Board (Pres. Quirino), Presidential Complaints and Action Commission (Pres. Magsaysay), Presidential Committee on Administration Performance Efficiency (Pres. Garcia), Presidential Anti-Graft Committee (Pres. Macapagal), Presidential Agency on Reform and Government Operations and the Office of the Citizens Counselor (both under Pres. Marcos). These agencies, however, failed to realize their objective for they did not enjoy the political independence necessary for the effective performance of their function as government critic. Their powers are also limited to fact-finding and making recommendations. Thus, the framers of the 1973 Constitution saw the need to constitutionalize the office of an Ombudsman, to give it political independence and adequate powers to enforce its recommendations. The 1973 Constitution (Cruz, 2004, Section 6, Article XIII) mandated the legislature to create an office of the Ombudsman to be known as Tanodbayan. Its powers are not limited to receiving complaints and making recommendations, but also include the filing and prosecution of criminal, civil or administrative cases. Pres. Marcos, who was then exercising legislative powers under Martial Law, issued a law to implement this constitutional mandate. Under the 1987 Constitution, a new Office of the Ombudsman was created. The Tanodbayan became the Office of the Special Prosecutor, which continued to exercise powers except those belonging to the Office of the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman, which is intended to be independent and autonomous constitutional body, is armed with the power to prosecute erring public officers and employees. The Ombudsman has an active role in the enforcement of laws on anti-graft and corrupt practices, as well as other offenses committed by government officers and employees. The present Ombudsman, designated under the constitution as the “Protector of the People”, is charged with five major functions - Public Assistance, Graft Prevention, Investigation, Prosecution and Administrative Adjudication. The framers of the Constitution defined the role of the Office of the Ombudsman as a watchdog, to monitor the “general and specific performance of government officials and employees.
THE OMBUDSMAN'S STRATEGY AGAINST GRAFT AND CORRUPTION
The figure shows the framework used by the Ombudsman in order to curb graft and corruption in the Philippines. The explanation of this would be further explained as the author of this essay continues to discuss the programs and the functions of the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman was a post-EDSA political innovation, guided by the idea of an independent institution empowered by the constitution to serve as a watchdog against the abuse of public office. There are several efforts that focus on the intriguing causes of corruption identified by the Ombudsman. They are (1) individual causes which are attributed values among bureaucrats, such as materialism, lack of integrity and nationalism. (2) Organizational causes refer to deficiencies in the bureaucratic apparatus such as low salary, poor recruitment and selection procedures and red tape in government; and (3) societal causes where corrupt behavior is itself the norm of society (Lubrero, 2007)
The Programs and Major Functions of Ombudsman
In giving life to the theory of scientific management, the Ombudsman has five (5) major functions which indeed justify the postulation of Frederick Taylor. The Ombudsman in performing their functions used scientific study and analysis in order to come up with a valid data and facts. In a chat with one of the officials of the Ombudsman Cebu City Branch, there has always been a scientific method that was applied in the investigation of any case. According to him, all the cases that were handled by them will all be muddle if they will not apply scientific management on it. He acclaimed at the end of the interview that the handling of the issue in the Ombudsman depend solely on the application of scientific management. All of the five (5) major functions of the office were equipped with scientific analysis and methods.
As shown in the above figure, the investigative function of the Office involves determination of violations of the anti-graft laws by public functionaries through fact-finding or evidence gathering. It also includes the finding of probable cause through formal preliminary investigation for the purpose of prosecution (Balboa,2007. pg.1). For example, in graft prevention, the Office of the Ombudsman has the authority to prevent the commission of graft by ordering or stopping the implementation of government contracts that are found to be disadvantageous to the government. Under its administrative adjudication function, the office has the authority to conduct administrative penalties where the erring public official or employee including Cabinet Secretaries may be suspended or dismissed from public service. It holds disciplinary authority over all government functionaries, except the president and members of congress and the judiciary and other impeachable officials. In all other criminal cases, however, all public officials and employees, without any exception are under the Ombudsman’s investigative jurisdiction. In its effort to solve the twin evils of graft and corruption, the Office of the Ombudsman employs a two-pronged strategy: the confrontational approach and the psychological approach (Balboa, 2007. pg. 2). The confrontational approach involves the administrative and criminal investigation and prosecution of erring members of the bureaucracy. In this regard, a number of criminal cases were filed in the Sandiganbayan involving high-ranking officials and about 2,500 cases referred to the ordinary courts involving low-ranking members of the bureaucracy (Ombudsman site, 2007). To complement this capability, the Inter- Agency Consultative Committee with the Commission on Audit (COA), Civil Service Commission (CSC), Philippine Commission Against Graft and Corruption (PCAGC), and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) have been formed and organized for effective coordination. As part of the strategy, the tripod system was adopted to enforce honesty and efficiency. This system includes the establishment of Corruption Prevention Units (CPUs), Junior Graftwatch Units (JGUs) and installation of the Offices of the Resident Ombudsman. The CPU’s were organized to broaden community participation and serve as the Ombudsman’s eyes and arms, closely monitoring critical and substantially funded government projects and/or transactions in their respective areas of concern. They also serve as a front desk to receive and facilitate requests for assistance, complaints, or reports of any anomalous or corrupt practices. In addition, the CPU’s work hand-in-hand with the Office of the Ombudsman in promoting the objectives of the latter through the conduct of various activities involving community participation, such as consultative workshops, symposia, seminars and conferences, developing moral values of honesty, as well as educating the public on preventive measures in its fight against graft and corruption. At present, about 200 CPU’s have been already organized from among civic-minded non governmental organizations. The Junior Graftwatch Units (JGU’s) have been organized to mobilize the youth (both at high school and college level, including the out-of-school youth) in the fight against graft and corruption, by encouraging them to become the primary coordinating arm of the Ombudsman with respect to the educational and motivational projects involving youth, and as an effective ally of the Office of the Ombudsman. All over the country, there are already seven hundred and seventy-four (774) Junior Graftwatch Units accredited by the Ombudsman (Lubrero, 2007. pg.3-4). These are organized to develop and strengthen their instinct of goodness and idealism which is anchored in the principle that a child who grows up in an environment of honesty will be difficult to corrupt when s/he attains maturity. The Office of the Ombudsman believes that in empowering the citizenry to practice their innate virtues of honesty and uprightness, and getting them involved in the Ombudsman’s struggle for the right values, we can expect a citizenry with even stronger moral fiber in the future. The Office’s graft prevention efforts are directed at sustaining the support of all sectors of Filipino society, which is a healthy sign of empowering the citizenry in nation building. It has likewise installed Resident Ombudsmen (ROs) in 22 important departments of the government to serve as watchdogs and guardians of integrity and efficiency. They closely monitor the performance of government functionaries, thereby producing strong deterrence to bureaucratic corruption and inefficiency. The psychological approach adopted has been designed to create and nurture an environment of integrity in the Philippine society. This proceeds from the principle that corruption cannot thrive in a milieu of honesty. This approach, which has a long-range objective, is expected to have a lasting effect because it aims to develop a strong moral fiber for the citizenry. For this purpose, the Office has worked with the Department of Education on introducing graft prevention modules that will teach students old Filipino values of honesty and integrity. It has forged an agreement with the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) to ascertain that corrupt practices pictured in movie films and television programs have redemptive values or punishment of the corrupt. Orientation seminars for new government entrants are also conducted to provide a deeper understanding of public service values and of the accountability attached to their positions in the government. It has continuously conducted values orientation seminars/workshops to enhance organizational effectiveness and strengthen the moral fiber of the personnel (Balboa, 2007. pg. 3).
ISSUES AGAINST OMBUDSMAN
The Office of the Ombudsman has also its own controversies and issues. Although it is considered to be one of the primary agency to undertake graft and corruption practices, there still controversies saying that the Ombudsman is not worthy to be called as anti-corruption agencies because the office of it alone proves that there has to be inefficiency in their own jurisdiction. While the Ombudsman enjoys broad power supposedly to create strides in the crusade of the country against corruption, assessment concluded that its performance is far from general expectations. Taking from Ades (2001), there has to poor evaluation of the Ombudsman, first its mediocre record in its dispensation of cases and credibility problems that haunted those that were appointed in this institution. Second, the dismal performance could mainly be attributed to the unsatisfactory disposal rate that inevitably produced a huge backlog of cases annually. Ahmed (2000) attributed this lackluster record on the inadequate human, technical and financial resources that beleaguered the agency. Third, a low disposal and sanction rate ultimately impinges upon the ability of the government to “police” its own ranks. Fourth, the public perception that it the Ombudsman is an agency not to be trusted to curb graft and corruption practices. This is because there is apparent lack of credibility of officials being appointed to leadership positions in this agency of constraint. Take for example; previous ombudsmen were accused of being unfit of being a public defender given their previous association with the martial law regime. Fifth, the Ombudsman has also been accused of being against the public interest by protecting highly controversial cases of people associated with the Marcos regime and other powerful interests. Lastly, an ombudsman almost faced impeachment when a complaint was filed that accused him of bribery and the mishandling of the plunder case against former president Estrada (Aquino, 1999)
For the Ombudsman, these issues and problems were just nothing. Taking form the article of (Lubrero, 2007) in the interview that he conducted, they said that there has to be a lot more important thing to solved and to consider than to gave a glance to this kind of issues. This in the author’s point of view is the best answer to every agency that faces issues like this. This is in turn gave credit to the Ombudsman as the primary and leading anti-graft and corruption agencies. Without them, there could perhaps be more and more corruption in our country.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
The role played by the Ombudsman is very significant in our society today. It continued to curb graft and corruption practices even though it was met by different issues and controversies along the way. The Ombudsman as described above comprehensively set laws that may have ascertained all the possible instances of graft and corruption. From the investigation stage down to the very last stage it can be summarized that scientific management had been its backbone to come up with a valid data and facts. Scientific management was used by the office of the Ombudsman in order to improve more efficiency in the government. This was achieved through the five (5) major functions they performed. As noticed above, the Ombudsman make it sure that there has to be data gathering and facts finding before making a conclusion. In other words, scientific study and analysis had been established first before making a finale disposition. Hence, scientific management had been used by the office to displace the “rule of thumb”. One of the significant roles of the Ombudsman today was the double effort of the officials in making relative investigation. If the office of the Ombudsman is not too keen in making analysis, there could be no identified number of cases filed today in courts with the issue of graft and corruption. Another vital role of the Ombudsman today, is the tripod system that was adopted to enforce honesty and efficiency in the government. This system includes the establishment of Corruption Prevention Resident Ombudsman and Junior Graftwatch Units. If there’s no CPU’s that exists as of today, who would be responsible for monitoring critical and substantially funded government projects or transactions? Who would be responsible to serve as a front desk to receive and facilitate our requests for assistance, complaints, and reports of any anomalous or corrupt practices? Another important role played by the Ombudsman is the creation of Junior Graftwatch Units. It becomes the marshal of the youths in the fight against graft and corruption. If there could have been no Ombudsman who would probably be coordinating arms of the youth? Who would probably be the fuel of our youth in becoming a better citizen with honesty and integrity as there principle? There could be countless vital roles that the Ombudsman played as of today. And the roles performed by the Office of the Ombudsman could be compared to a table. A table could not function if one leg of it was destroyed. The same is true with the Office of the Ombudsman; our government could be crippled if the Office of the Ombudsman be shattered. There could be more and more graft and corruption if there could be no anti-graft and corruption agency that will cut off the particularistic behavior of the public officials. They just have to strengthen and take a closer look to the following recommendations that may perhaps be helpful in combating graft and corruption practices here in the Philippines. Moral Reform could be the first one that the author of this essay could recommend.
In designing reform programs, it is important to identify the discretionary control rights at the disposal of politicians and bureaucrats. The majority of politicians are clean; civic minded citizens, but a significantly corrupt minority can take a large toll on an economy. Typically, the main activities in need of reform are those that involve discretion, including: the issuance of licenses, permits, quantitative import restrictions (quotas), passports, customs and border-crossing documentation, and banking licenses; the implementation of price controls; the blocking of entry to new firms and investors and the provision of monopoly power; the awarding of public procurement contracts; the granting of subsidies, soft credits, tax exemptions, and inflated pensions and the allowing of tax evasion; the imposition of foreign-exchange controls resulting in multiple exchange rates, the over invoicing of imports, and the flight of capital; the allocation of real estate, grain storage facilities, telecommunications, and power infrastructure; the discretionary application of socially desirable regulations such as those that apply to public health and the environment; and the maintenance of obscure or secret budgetary accounts as well as other "leakages" from the budget to private accounts. The discretionary control rights of officials can be sharply curtailed through a package of
Economic reforms. After Moral Reforms, the enforcement of law should be followed. The Philippines has an impressive number of laws to tackle practically all cases requiring fast actions. However, the enforcement of these laws leaves much to be desired. The retention of officials whom the President’s anti-graft agency itself recommended to be removed suggests lack of political will and the priority of partisanship over the public interest. This would have provided an occasion for articulating the Administration’s ethical vision, catching a big fish, and warning everyone that the leadership means business. The people expect not only the equal enforcement of the law, but also more strictness on persons perceived to be in the President’s inner circle. Next step to do is to strengthen better Public Administration. The management approach started under the Aquino administration should be continued and improved. Persons in decision-making positions should be trained and encouraged to think strategically. The challenge is to use whatever capacity there is towards work that is focused on enhancing the public interest. There is also a need to institutionalize some of the efforts that have been put into enhancing accountability since 1986. This means the support of agency reform measures, as well as the establishment of new procedures, to pave the way for cleaner administration. Followed by the improvement of transparency and at the same time accountability in the government. Make transparency real, allowing civil servants and the public to access information in government. A question hour in Congress or a radio-TV program with questions and comments to be answered by executive officials may help inquiries into any aspect of their policies and performance. Reports of investigations should be made available to the public. The support of the mass media in these endeavors, accompanied by their own efforts at reforming their ranks, would be crucial to the success of these efforts. Accountable performance would be supported if the public is informed about what the agency does and why. It is a means of ensuring that the personnel themselves know its mission. At the same time, both they and the public would also then understand the reasoning behind what seem to appear only as red tape. Information sharing - particularly of steps in service delivery - also makes it unnecessary for the client to seek out a ‘fixer’. Open transactions can build a sense of partnership between the government and the people the agencies serve. And lastly, it could have been the enhancement of the role of the people. There is a need for popular involvement in ethics and accountability. Paying the proper taxes, obeying regulations, being well informed about government services - these are only the first steps in moving to a disciplined but democratic society. In addition, support for politicians who promote causes rather than just their charm and personality would also make the line of accountability clearer. The development of parties with coherent platforms should then be a focus of people’s participation, to tie up with the reforms suggested above. These are all in addition to the encouragement of NGOs that are non-partisan in exposing corruption and bringing violators to justice. The start of many of these measures has already been made. They are in tune with democratic principles, as well as the culture. One hopes that many more financial, human and moral resources will be placed at the service of accountability in the country so that our country, the Philippines, could be a graft-free and corrupt-free country.
References
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Ahmed, B. 2000, Government Malpractices, Volume 2, Dhaka University Press Limited.
Alfiler, B. 2000, ‘Administrative Measure Against Bureaucratic Corruption’, The Philippine Journal of Public Administration, Volume 23. No. 3 & 4, Retrieved last: September 30, 2007. Available at: http://www.Philpubadmin/345iy2.org//45
Aquino, B. 1999, Politics of Plunder. The Philippines Under Marcos, Great Books Trading and UP College of Public Administration.
Balboa, J. 2007, ‘Graft and Corruption Practices in the Philippines’ September 27, 2007, Available at: http://www.livinginthephilippines.com/prevention_graft_corruption65824792
Batalla, E. 2006, ‘The Social Cancer: Corruption As A Way of Life, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Retrieved last September 27, 2007.
Cruz, I. 2004, Philippine Political Law, Central Lawbook Publishing Co.,Inc. Metro Manila Philippines.
Lubrero, E. 2007, ‘All About Ombudsman’ The Daily Star, Retrieved last: September 30, 2007. Available at: http://www.philstar.com
Ombudsman Site, 2007, “Origin of The Ombudsman”. Retrieved last: October 02, 2007. Available at: http://www.ombudsman.gov.ph.
Nelson, D. 1980, Taylor and Scientific Management, New York: Harper.
Taylor, F.W. 1911, The Principle of Scientific Management, Madison: The University of Wasconsin Press.
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