Yesterday, the head of the KPK or anti-corruption agency of Indonesia, an RM awardee, shared their experience in achieving a 100% conviction rate. I was asked to respond: Response/KPK Sept. 2, 2013 Ramon Magsaysay Foundation Marites Dañguilan Vitug Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Congratulations to the KPK. This is a richly deserved award. Honestly, I envy your successes. If we could transplant the KPK to the Philippines, we will see a happy ending to our horrendous multi-billion peso pork barrel scandal. It’s great news that the KPK has been able to send members of parliament to jail. We want this to happen in the Philippines—to see congressmen and senators who diverted public funds to their pockets convicted. The counterpart of KPK in the Philippines is the Office of the Ombudsman. But a 100 percent conviction rate here remains to be a distant dream—while you have already achieved it in Indonesia. You’ve left us behind! The KPK is a model which we can follow. But this would mean amending the law that created the Ombudsman and restructuring its Office. I’m not sure if Congress will do this. I can already imagine the loud and noisy opposition. Years ago, when the KPK was formed, it created buzz in the anti-corruption circles in Southeast Asia. When I learned that your powers included surveillance and wiretapping, examining of bank accounts and tax records, freezing of suspects’ assets, issuance of hold orders and making arrests, I was amazed. Our Ombudsman is not equipped with these powers. We need a court order to do any of these. The most recent example is our Court of Appeals’ order to freeze the bank accounts of pork barrel queen Janet Napoles and for the Anti-Money Laundering Council to go over these accounts. Recently, the current Ombudsman, Conchita Carpio-Morales, broke new ground in the fight against corruption when she used her office’s power to verify information in the asset statements of public officials, to gather information on the former chief justice’s bank accounts. Her office found out that the chief justice did not declare his bank deposits. This proved to be crucial evidence in the impeachment of Renato Corona. Another major difference is: the KPK can prosecute any official, including members of parliament and the judiciary. The only exception is the military, which the KPK can investigate but not prosecute. Our Ombudsman can prosecute the military and members of the executive branch, except those removable by impeachment. Members of Congress and the judiciary are covered but only for criminal complaints. In 2010, an academic, Emil Bolongaita, studied the KPK and the Office of the Ombudsman and compared their performance. Both of our countries are democracies ; we’re both emerging economies. Bolongaita pointed out that, among other factors, it is the powers of the KPK, the high-level political support and wide public backing that helped KPK maintain its independence and will to fight powerful enemies. In the Philippines, the Ombudsman had a brief shining moment in the early years of President Arroyo, when Simeon Marcelo was Ombudsman. He started reforming the institution, recruited young and idealistic lawyers, opened up his office to civil-society partners, and increased conviction rate. But he resigned after only a few years in office. When the leadership changed, the reform programs stopped. This was also during the period that the Arroyo administration was embroiled in corruption scandals. Today, under President Aquino, confidence in the Office of the Ombudsman is back and the current Ombudsman, former Supreme Court Carpio-Morales, is continuing the reforms. She has the full support of the President, who has made the fight versus corruption his centrepiece program. The Ombudsman is leading the probe on the pork barrel scam. Expectations are high that she will act without fear or favor and charge the guilty senators and congressmen. We have a lot to learn from the experience of the KPK. It is admirable that you were able to hurdle the framing up of some of your officials—and you don’t wear bullet-proof vests. Exchange visits and sharing seminars between Manila’s Ombudsman and Jakarta’s KPK may be useful, although it may be frustrating for those at the Ombudsman’s Office since they do not enjoy the vast powers KPK has. Still, we will continue to watch your activities and successes with interest. We hope that KPK will be able to sustain its “smart and empowered” anti-corruption crusade and that the forces working against you will fail. Thank you for listening and good day.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 23:50:57 +0000
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