Ombudsman praised for yielding secret funds

Ombudsman Samuel Martires (File photo by JAM STA. ROSA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara on Wednesday praised Ombudsman Samuel Martires for making good on his word to cede P51.5 million in confidential funds that the Office of the Ombudsman was supposed to receive in its annual outlay for 2024.

Angara, who chairs the Senate finance committee, said he received a letter from the country’s chief graft investigator on Oct. 6 officially informing the Senate panel that he was giving up almost the entire budget for confidential expenses of the antigraft body.

Martires, however, asked the upper chamber to let his office keep P1 million for such expenditure until the end of his seven-year term in 2025.

“I think what [Martires] did was commendable,” Angara told reporters in an interview.

“He has been [the Ombudsman] for several years. From his standpoint, he believes he could carry out his job [without having confidential funds],” he added.

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Aside from Martires, Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo also told senators during the deliberations on the proposed budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs that he would also forgo P50 million in confidential funds.

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra and the Department of Migrant Workers likewise said they would let go of their respective similar allotments for next year.

In his letter to Angara, Martires said he was formally requesting the Senate finance panel to reallocate nearly all of the Ombudsman’s confidential funds.

He also thanked the Senate for supporting their budget request of P5 billion.

“Rest assured that you shall have our continuing cooperation as the Senate of the Philippines deliberates in plenary our agency budget,” Martires said. The Ombudsman sent a separate letter to Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co, Angara’s counterpart in the House of Representatives.

During the Senate budget deliberations on Sept. 27, Martires informed the senators of his decision amid the controversy over Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte’s request for a total of P650 million in confidential funds for her two offices.

“If it will only taint the reputation of the Ombudsman and its office, I am willing that this be scratched … I think we can survive without confidential funds,” Martires said, replying to a question from Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III.

“I would like to be the first from the investigating agencies to request Congress that … [we will] not have confidential funds during [the rest of] my term of office,” he added.