Former Ombudsman Samuel Martires said Tuesday he cannot recall why his decision in July 2019 dismissing the complaints against Senator Joel Villanueva over alleged misuse of discretionary fund was not published.
“Hindi ko maalala sa tagal ng panahon, hindi ko maalala ang reason ba’t hindi na-publish ‘yan. Maybe because I was also overwhelmed with cases. Sinasabi lang, dapat daw pinublish ko dahil obligasyon daw namin i-publish ‘yun. Ang batas naman sinasabi lang if the circumstances warrant, ‘yun naman mula Konstitusyon hanggang batas,” Martires said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.
(I cannot really recall, since it has been a long while, the reason why that decision was not published. They said I should have published it because it is an obligation on our part. But the law only states that publication is needed if circumstances warrant.)
“If the circumstances warrant, the Ombudsman should. So, kaniya (Ombudsman) ‘yung discretion mag-publish ng desisyon sa Ombudsman. Who should determine whether circumstances would warrant the publication of that decision? The Ombudsman. Bakit ba didiktahan ang Ombudsman ng ibang mga kritiko na i-publish mo ‘yan?” he added.
(The discretion is with the Ombudsman. Why should critics dictate upon the Ombudsman in publishing decisions?)
LIVE sa DZBB: Atty. Samuel Martires, former Ombudsman
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Newly-installed Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla called the junking of complaints against Villanueva as “secret decision” because it was not published. He said the decision was only made public when he said that former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales’ dismissal order in 2016 against the senator should be enforced.
Martires said that an Ombudsman’s decision to disclose a resolution cannot be second guessed because he is the determining authority if there is a need to publish it.
“Because sa pananaw naman niya (Ombudsman), hindi kailangan i-publish. Bakit niya kailangan i-publish? ‘Yun doon ang mahirap eh,” Martires said.
(If the Ombudsman thinks there is no need to publish, why publish it? That’s the problem.)
“Kasi, talaga, hindi ko maalala bakit hindi na-publish, ‘yan sa totoo lang,” Martires added.
(Because really, I really cannot recall why it wasn’t published.) —AOL, GMA Integrated News
