With P1M secret fund, Ombudsman turns to ‘Marites,’ ‘Tolits’ for info

MANILA, Philippines — With only P1 million confidential fund next year, the Office of the Ombudsman may just use its charms and skill to get information from so-called “Marites” and “Tolits” in the Philippines.

Marites is short for “Mare, ito ang latest” (Friend, here’s is the latest), while the male version, “Tolits,” is short for “Tol, ito ang latest (Bro, here’s the latest).

“Yan ang sinasabi ng matatanda, mamaluktot ka kapag maiksi ang kumot, ‘di ba. So dito siguro gagamitin na lang namin yung charm… Idaan sa ngiti, baka naman matulungan ka ng iba. Idaan mo sa pag ma-Marites,” Ombudsman Samuel Martires told reporters at the Senate on Tuesday.

(That’s what the elders say. Learn to curl up if the blanket is too short. So maybe we’ll just use charm or smile, and maybe someone will help you.)

“In fact, I’ll be honest with you, kung minsan nakakapulot ako ng impormasyon dahil sa inyo e… All I have to do is to validate the information that I got from members of the press. Malaking bagay ‘yun,” he said.

(In fact, I’ll be honest with you: sometimes I gather information because of you guys… All I have to do is validate the information I got from press members.)

“So dun, Marites at Tolits… ‘yung mga kaunti-unting tsismisan natin, kahit wala ng kape, e nakakapulot ako. I just have to validate that,” the Ombudsman added.

(So there, Marites and Tolits… in our little chit-chats, even without coffee, I pick up some information. I just have to validate them.)

Without question, senators closed the period of interpellations at the plenary on the 2024 proposed P5.34 billion budget of the Ombudsman’s office.

Tucked in the proposal is the P1 million confidential fund of the Ombudsman’s office.

“The final confidential fund as we requested is only P1 million, from the P51 million proposed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), which was also the same amount in 2022,” Martires explained.

Also upon their request, Martires said their confidential fund was reduced to only P30 million from the P51 million originally proposed by the DBM.

He nevertheless assured the public that the P1 million confidential fund next year would still be used for their investigation, surveillance purposes, and security of its offices.