File photo of the Office of the Ombudsman. INQUIRER/NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
Starting next year, the Office of the Ombudsman will be establishing field offices in several regional centers and key provinces to bring its services closer to the public. “The intention is not only to encourage [people] to file [graft complaints], but to help speed up the release of clearances of retiring government employees,” Ombudsman Samuel Martires said on Tuesday after the Senate approved the antigraft agency’s proposed budget for 2024. At present, he said, the Ombudsman has satellite offices only in Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Iloilo and Tacloban. “Hopefully, we can have satellite offices in different provinces by next year,” Martires said. “Initially, we intend to have at least two staff members in every satellite office who will receive the complaints and applications for clearances,” he said