Ombudsman wants religion class in all levels to fight corruption

Ombudsman Samuel Martires. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/ JAM STA ROSA

Ombudsman Samuel Martires on Thursday said his new vision for the Office of the Ombudsman was to take a step backward.

In particular, he said he wanted to return to a time when values formation was paramount.

In a multisectoral meeting attended by members of the academe, media, religious groups and members of the judiciary in Quezon City, Martires said he would shift the focus of the Ombudsman’s anticorruption campaign from investigations and prosecution to “religious education” and “values formation.”

Part of his plan is to talk to the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education to ensure that religious education is included in all levels, from kindergarten to college.

Martires said he would stick to values education and religion classes as a means to curb corruption, even as his foreign counterparts pushed to improve technology in order to win the fight against corruption.

The Ombudsman, who is also a former Supreme Court justice, decried laws that punish parents who use corporal punishment in disciplining children, saying Filipino values were different from those of Western countries and we should not blindly follow examples from the developed world.

“Why do we have laws like this? These are demonic laws, taking away the right of parents to discipline their children. We copy these white people when we have a different culture and are very different from them,” he said.

Martires also said his office would be suspending Bureau of Customs officials that it found probable cause to investigate.

“I don’t think we can proceed with the investigation smoothly if we do not impose preventive suspension,” Martires said on the sidelines of the multisectoral meeting.

Martires earlier ordered an investigation of the agency and expects an initial report from the investigatory panel as early as Friday.

“I gave them two weeks, or earlier than that. Hopefully, I will get a partial report either tomorrow or on Monday,” Martires said.

Last week, President Duterte summoned more than 50 customs personnel to Malacañang to warn them that he would not tolerate corruption.

A day after the Malacañang meeting, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said administrative charges would be filed against corrupt customs officials before the Ombudsman unless they opted to resign.

Mr. Duterte on Thursday said, “I have to kick them out. Sixty-four of them will be terminated next week … and 100 [are] coming.” —WITH A REPORT FROM JULIE M. AURELIO