[The Slingshot] The horrible record of Ombudsman Samuel Martires

Martires is set to retire next month? Not enough. He should be hailed to court and punished for his transgressions.

He was the perfect ombudsman — for protecting his fraternity brother Rodrigo Duterte. That barefaced audacity was non-pareil. Samuel R. Martires completes his seven-year term next month as the 6^th ombudsman of the republic. He also completes a record never before seen in the annals of Philippine judiciary — a protector of the corrupt and an enemy of government transparency. And he has no shame for it.

No one but no one in the government hierarchy is tasked to be the government’s top graft buster and guardian of good governance but the ombudsman. Its task is so uniquely sacred and sacrosanct — the constitutional body responsible for investigating and prosecuting Philippine government officials accused of crimes, especially graft and corruption. 

The office is deemed of majestic importance that it even enjoys fiscal autonomy — when it asks Congress for its annual budget it is given the privilege of automatic release.

Under the 1987 Constitution and the Ombudsman Act of 1989, the ombudsman can, motu proprio, investigate on its own upon any complaint by any citizen in any form or manner, any act or omission by any public officer or employee. But what did Martires say? “Corruption has become endemic in the country and it cannot be solved during our lifetime.” It was one of the greatest ironies in Philippine law science that the ombudsman was the first to demolish the principle of “public office is a public trust.” 

How deep then were the ties of Duterte and Martires that integrity was sacrificed over absurdity? Martires entered San Beda Law in 1971. Duterte graduated in 1972. Their paths must have crossed when the underclassman joined the Lex Talionis fraternity to live the first word in its motto — “loyalty.” Duterte appointed 25 members of Lex Talionis to key positions in government when he became president.

And Martires truly lived up to being loyal as Duterte’s proverbial frat brod. Martires did not hesitate to eschew any law for as long as he was protecting his fraternal appointing power. Media gave him stinging commentaries. One writer said Martires was sabotaging his own office. All along Martires did not give a damn.

But isn’t that what fraternity brothers are for? I scratch your back and you scratch mine. Martires’ appointments in the Supreme Court and the Office of the Ombudsman were loyalty rewards. In 2011, Martires penned the Sandiganbayan decision that junked graft charges against then Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte over the demolition of a park built by his political rival Prospero Nograles.

Even before he was president, Lex Talionis politics ruled Duterte’s governance.

When Duterte became president, breaking the law on the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) was easy. Martires was there to uphold him. The result was a reversal of policy that betrayed the Constitution. 

In 2019, Duterte was the first Philippine president in 30 years not to release his SALN. RA 6713 was enacted in 1989 and all five presidents before him had publicly disclosed their annual SALNs without fail, via the Office of the Ombudsman. Was Duterte hiding ill-gotten wealth? If he was, Martires was certainly there as his fortress and refuge. 

When he was associate justice in the Supreme Court, Martires was one of the eight justices who voted in favor of the quo warranto filed against then-chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno for failing to submit in full her SALN. The Sereno removal, it must be said, was a political operation of vendetta by Duterte for Sereno’s pronouncements against the extrajudicial killing sprees. 

As part of the eight justices, that alone tells us that Martires was a political animal more than judicial. Less than three months later, Martires was appointed ombudsman and the tune on SALN changed soon after.

In RA 6713, the Ombudsman is the custodian of all submitted SALNs of government officials. In September 2021, Martires denied a request of lawyer Dino de Leon for copies of Duterte’s SALNs from 2016 to 2021. Martires had reversed the rules. A year earlier, he issued Memorandum Circular 1 that prohibits the public release of SALNs unless there is consent from the declarant, Duterte in this case. 

The law was clear: SALNs must be accessible to the public. Not under the Martires memorandum that clearly contravened the law. 

But this was the era of Dutertismo strongman rule where there are always acolytes to protect the tyrant. Martires was one of those acolytes.

Until the end of Duterte’s term, all requests for his SALNs ran into a dead-end. His wealth remained hidden. The maxim is, if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear. Obviously, Duterte had something to hide and Martires was material to the obstruction of justice.

In the House budget hearings, Martires even turned bizarre. He proposed tough penalties of five years in jail for anyone who commented on the SALN of government employees. His reason: the SALN has been “weaponized” because it has been used to destroy reputations.

In 2023, Martires also proposed to the House to drop a provision in the annual national budget requiring the publication of Commission on Audit (COA) reports on government agencies. He was referring to COA red flags. He said the COA reports “caused confusion” and prompted the public to prejudge as guilty those flagged by COA. 

That was perfect timing. One year later, who exactly was being questioned by the public for having been flagged by COA and moreover was given a notice of disallowance? Sara Duterte. Martires’ role as Duterte protector extended to the daughter of the frat brod.

In 2018, when Conchita Carpio Morales was the ombudsman, there were five docketed cases against Paolo Duterte — two for graft, two for administrative cases, and one for ill-gotten wealth. Martires never resurrected those cases under his tenure. Initially he vowed impartiality, as politicians do. It remained lip service, as politicians do. 

Martires is set to retire next month? Not enough. He should be hailed to court and punished for his transgressions. Isn’t that what we do to protectors of the corrupt? – Rappler.com