SENATORS Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan are pushing for stronger law enforcement capabilities for the Office of the Ombudsman so it could effectively investigate corruption.
During the joint hearing of the Senate Committees on Justice and Human Rights, and Ways and Means on Monday, Lacson said the Ombudsman should be authorized to conduct searches and seizures, make arrests and carry out law-enforcement investigations.
“Having come from the law enforcement sector myself, anti-corruption has always been the bedrock and core of my advocacy from way, way back,” Lacson said.
“Having said that, I think the Ombudsman really needs to be empowered because this is what they currently lack. We should authorize them to conduct searches and seizures, effect arrests, and conduct law enforcement investigations so that they can carry out their work more effectively,” he said.
Lacson also raised the possibility of granting the Ombudsman contempt powers through legislation, saying he saw no constitutional provision that expressly prevents Congress from extending such authority to a constitutional body.
“I think that should be the subject of our discussion, whether we can further empower the Ombudsman by statute by giving them contempt powers,” Lacson said.
He acknowledged that contempt powers are traditionally vested on the courts, but said Congress could examine whether such authority may be granted to the Ombudsman, subject to appropriate limitations.
Pangilinan backed legislation seeking to strengthen the Ombudsman’s law-enforcement capabilities through the creation of an Ombudsman Marshal, a specialized operational and enforcement unit within the anti-graft body.
The proposal seeks to amend Section 15 of Republic Act 6770, or the Ombudsman Act of 1989, and provide the office with dedicated personnel and operational capacity to implement its lawful processes.
Pangilinan said the proposal is not intended to create an agency that would compete with the Philippine National Police (PNP), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) or other law-enforcement bodies.
Instead, the Ombudsman Marshal would provide the anti-graft office with a permanent mechanism to coordinate with existing law-enforcement agencies and implement its own legal processes.
Under the proposal, the Ombudsman Marshal would help serve and implement subpoenas, writs, orders and other legal processes; coordinate with law-enforcement agencies in the implementation of warrants and other lawful processes; monitor compliance with Ombudsman resolutions and directives; provide intelligence and operational support for investigations; and provide appropriate security support for personnel, witnesses, whistleblowers and informants.
Pangilinan said the proposed unit would fill what he described as an institutional gap in the Ombudsman’s operations.
“When the Ombudsman issues a subpoena, someone must serve it,” he said. “When it issues a lawful order or directive, someone must monitor its implementation.” He added that investigations involving multiple regions and jurisdictions also require a dedicated unit to coordinate, monitor and support operations.
Pangilinan also noted that the Senate Committee on Finance had expressed support for the Ombudsman’s request for an additional P168 million to establish its law-enforcement service, including 100 new positions.
The proposed service would be tasked with serving cyber warrants, securing evidence, enforcing orders and protecting investigators, among other functions, he said.
“Corruption cases are not won by investigation alone,” Pangilinan said. “They require evidence to be obtained, witnesses to be heard, processes to be served, orders to be implemented, and lawful decisions to be complied with.”
