An appeal to the JBC

By Michael Henry Yusingco, LL.M

The reality is that a compromised Ombudsman only benefits the perpetuators of graft and corruption. One can just imagine what havoc a dynastic politician would do if appointed to the post. Note that political dynasties form the backbone of the pork barrel cartel. If the President is truly serious about leaving an anti-corruption legacy, then he should appoint an Ombudsman who has absolutely no links to him and his clan. The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) can help by shortlisting only those who meet this criterion.

The 1987 Constitution tags the Ombudsman and his Deputies as “protectors of the people”. But experience has shown that when the Ombudsman has a connection to the President, this mandate gets flushed down the toilet. The Ombudsman then becomes the protector of Malacañang against civil society efforts to enforce transparency and accountability. This is precisely why corruption is now at a nuclear level. As per the most recent Ombudsman, it has infected the office itself.

Taxpayers lose hundreds of billions of pesos each year not merely to inefficiency but to outright plunder. Much of it is engineered through the capture of the national budget by dynastic lawmakers. The pork barrel system may have been formally abolished, but it continues under new labels and schemes. Dynastic legislators sit at the center of this criminal operation, dictating appropriations (aka insertions), steering projects to favored contractors, and accumulating ill-gotten wealth that sustain their family empires.

Lamentably, the Ombudsman has too often been politicized and selective in wielding its immense powers. And so, what the country needs is not a passive anti-graft body issuing press releases and half-hearted indictments. Filipinos must demand an impartial and aggressive Ombudsman that recognizes budget plunder as the central corruption problem of our time and prosecutes those responsible, regardless of surname, office, or political alignment.

Only the Ombudsman has prosecutorial powers that can haul even the most powerful officials before the Sandiganbayan. Crucially, it is intended to operate free from presidential interference. Yet despite these safeguards, its performance has been underwhelming. High-profile convictions are rare, and many end in acquittals due to weak preparation or apparent reluctance to confront political giants. Indeed, what has been missing is the political resolve to go after dynastic politicians.

By fiercely prosecuting all the budget plunderers, most especially dynastic lawmakers, the Ombudsman can raise the cost of corruption to a level that deters future abuse. The Ombudsman, however, cannot fight this battle alone. Civil society must serve as both watchdog and partner in demanding accountability. Citizens, journalists, academics, and advocacy groups can provide the raw material for cases by gathering information, documenting anomalies, and spotlighting suspicious projects in the budget.

Civil society can also sustain pressure over time. Corruption cases are slow-moving, often designed to outlast public attention. By consistently monitoring proceedings, mobilizing communities, and rallying support for whistleblowers, civil society ensures that plunder cases do not quietly fade into obscurity. Transparency portals, investigative reports, and budget tracking initiatives can make it harder for the corrupt to hide behind bureaucratic fog.

Most importantly, civil society can help protect the Ombudsman’s independence. Public outrage, amplified through media and grassroots campaigns, creates the political space for the Ombudsman to act without fear. When political elites attempt to undermine or intimidate the office, it will be ordinary citizens and organized movements that must defend it. An Ombudsman with a mobilized citizenry at its back gains not only legitimacy but the courage to take on all corrupt public officials, even dynastic politicians.

The plunder of the budget is the difference between a select few living lives of opulence and millions condemned to perpetual suffering. Every peso stolen by dynastic lawmakers is a peso denied to Juan dela Cruz and his family. These criminals need to get some serious jail time and the ill-gotten wealth returned to the public coffers. Hopefully, the JBC keeps this reality in mind when it shortlists candidates to be appointed by the President as the next protector of the people.