Ombudsman files raps vs ex-Duterte lawyer

Ombudsman Samuel Martires has filed a criminal complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte’s former lawyer Edna Batacan, who has admitted involvement in bribing employees at the graft buster’s office.

Batacan made the admission during a public interview by the Judicial and Bar Council in June.

Martires’ five-page complaint, filed in the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday, accused Batacan of violating Art. 212 of the Revised Penal Code (corruption of public officials) and Section 36 of the Ombudsman Act of 1989 (obstruction).

When she was a candidate for Ombudsman in June, Batacan described the office as  “graft-ridden.”

Bribes paid

During her interview on June 20, Batacan said she paid bribes to follow up on the status of her clients’ cases.

“Just to verify the status of the case, you have to spend P50,000 just to get the status of the case … I have personal experience on that … three times,” Batacan said.

“I screamed and I got mad, but as a practitioner, you have to abide by the rules, you have to please your client,” she added.

“Yes, they may not be the rules, but you have to please your clients. They say to play along with their music, just to finish [the cases] for the clients,” she said.

By giving in to the alleged bribe demands, Martires said Batacan committed the crime of “corruption of public officials” under the Revised Penal Code.

“The act of Attorney Batacan in giving money to the officials of the Office of the Ombudsman makes these officials liable for direct bribery or indirect bribery,” he said in his complaint.

Martires’ obstruction complaint arose from Batacan’s refusal to heed the Ombudsman’s July 31 subpoena.

Instead, Batacan sent a letter on Aug. 15 saying she “did not state before the Judicial and Bar Council that she herself gave P50,000 to an OMB officer.”

She also submitted a USB drive containing the video clips of her interview.

No jurisdiction

Batacan invoked the confidentiality of her transactions with her clients in declining the Ombudsman’s invitation to clarify her statements about corruption in the office.

She also said the Ombudsman had no jurisdiction over her as a private citizen.

Batacan did not respond to a letter sent by the Ombudsman on Aug 20.

Martires said her “deliberate refusal” of his office’s invitation “impedes the proper exercise of its function to investigate the corruption committed by [its] officials and employees.”

Sought for comment, Batacan told reporters in the Sandiganbayan: “Well, of course, I stand by what I said. It’s really true.”

She added that she explained to Martires by phone that she had to miss the meetings because she had an operation on her eyes and came down  with the flu.