SEN. Panfilo Lacson has filed a bill creating a marshal service that would empower the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) to effect arrests and detention, searches and seizures to strengthen its anti-corruption powers.
Lacson said this is one of the ways to show his “appreciation and sympathy” for the Office of the Ombudsman after seeing the challenges it faces in probing various cases involving flood control, reclamation and other infrastructure projects.
“The bill I filed gives the Ombudsman its own law enforcement arm focusing on graft and corruption cases under the mandate of the Ombudsman, to show my support for their work. With the law enforcement arm, it can apply for search warrants and serve arrest warrants to make its job easier,” Lacson said in an interview late Monday.
Lacson said the Ombudsman currently relies on law enforcement agencies such as the Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to assist in serving warrants and carrying out other law enforcement functions.
“The Ombudsman needs its own law enforcement arm,” he said.
Lacson said he has coordinated with Sen. Francis Pangilinan, chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights where his bill has been referred, to prioritize the hearings and sponsorship on the floor — or to authorize the creation of a subcommittee and allow him to defend the measure in plenary to expedite its enactment into law.
Also, Lacson has sounded out Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, the chairman of the committee in the House of Representatives handling the House counterpart of his bill.
Senate Bill 2394, filed by Lacson, seeks to create the Ombudsman Marshal Service that would conduct proactive inspections, inquiries and investigations to gather evidence and build up cases.
“In order to strengthen the Office of the Ombudsman in the exercise of its power to investigate, it is essential to afford the Office of the Ombudsman the power to effect arrests, detention, searches and seizures in accordance with the performance of its mandate imposed by no less than the Constitution itself,” he said in his bill.
He added the proposed law enforcement service would make an “immense contribution” to empowering the Office of the Ombudsman in fulfilling its mandate.
Earlier this year, Lacson said empowering the Ombudsman is among the partial recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Committee following its hearings into anomalous flood control projects.
Under the bill, Section 15 of Republic Act (RA) 6770 (Ombudsman Act of 1989) shall be amended with a provision creating the Ombudsman Marshal Service. The service would be headed by a Special Investigator with the rank, salary, emoluments, benefits and retirement privileges of a Deputy Ombudsman.
The service’s peace officers, to be known as Ombudsman Marshals, would be authorized to make arrests and effect detention, searches and seizures, and conduct various forms of investigation in accordance with the law.
They may carry suitable firearms for their protection in connection with their duties and for the protection of witnesses and persons in custody without need for permit from other government agencies.
Also, the Ombudsman Marshal Service may be called upon to enforce any order, writ or process of the Office of the Ombudsman, Sandiganbayan or any anti-corruption court, agency or unit.
The bill provides adequate facilities for persons in custody, including detainees under investigation, whistleblowers and witnesses.
The bill also amends Section 11 of RA 6770, authorizing the Ombudsman Marshal Service to enforce decisions, resolutions, orders and writs of the Office of the Ombudsman, including citations for contempt.
It amends Section 6 of RA 6770 giving the Special Investigator the rank, salary, emoluments, benefits and retirement privileges of a Deputy Ombudsman.
