Ombudsman: Magsaysay Award affirms work against corruption

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on Wednesday said she was honored to be conferred the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Asian equivalent of a Nobel Prize, saying the award only affirmed her work in prosecuting corrupt public officials.

In a statement, Morales said the honor is not hers alone but also of the people in her office who helped her investigate errant public officials for corruption.

“I am deeply honored by the recognition accorded me by the Ramon Magsaysay Award
 Foundation. 
In choosing me as an awardee, the Foundation is also honoring the men and women of
 the Office of the Ombudsman who have faithfully toiled and persevered with me in our 
shared commitment to excise the cancer of corruption that has afflicted our country 
for decades,” Morales said.

The award from the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation affirmed the Ombudsman’s work and inspired the office to fulfill its anti-corruption mandate, Morales said.

“As family and colleagues celebrate with me this recognition, I am fully aware that
 this fight remains a challenging one. Every day we continue to deal with inadequacies
 in the justice system and vestiges of entitlement among powerful individuals,” Morales said.

“The Foundation’s affirmation of our work gives my co-workers and me added inspiration
 and encouragement to carry on and remain focused, undaunted by those who persisting
 not only plundering public funds but, more seriously, destroying our moral fabric as
a people,” she added.

Morales said her faith in the public remains intact as she vows to continue “to aspire and work
 for a just and fair justice system.”

The 75-year-old Ombudsman was lauded for her “moral courage and commitment to justice in taking head-on one of the most intractable problems of the Philippines; promoting by her example of incorruptibility, diligence, vision and leadership the highest ethical standards in public service.”

READ: Ombudsman Morales leads 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Awardees

The awardees will be conferred a certificate, a medallion and a cash prize during the formal awarding ceremony on Aug. 31 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
READ: Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales wins Ramon Magsaysay Award

Under Morales’ term, the Ombudsman has filed multiple charges of plunder, graft, and malversation against former senators and former representatives over the P10-billion pork barrel scam, though it received a blow when it lost the plunder case against former president now Pampanga representative Gloria Arroyo that the Supreme Court dismissed for insufficiency of evidence.

READ: Ombudsman Morales: My job is to indict the corrupt