MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Ninety percent of complaints filed before the Office of the Ombudsman amid the election period are politically motivated, according to its chief, Samuel Martires.
Martires made the pronouncement when asked if his office still entertains cases that are 鈥渙bviously鈥� related to politics.
鈥淟ahat naman ng fina-file na kaso sa Ombudsman ay binibigyan namin ang importansya. May halong politika o wala, pero nobenta porsyento ng mga pumapasok lalo na malapit ng election ay may halong politika,鈥� Martires said in an interview with DZRH.
(We give importance to all cases filed with the Ombudsman. Whether they are politically motivated or not, 90 percent of those filed, especially near elections, are politically motivated.)
READ: Ombudsman denies motion to suspend Romualdez, others over budget mess
鈥淪ubalit hinihimay namin ito kung may katotohanan 鈥檡ung mga fina-file nilang kaso sa amin 鈥檡ung mga walang katotohanan ay dinidismiss namin,鈥� he added.
(But we are investigating if there is truth in the cases they are filing before us, and we are dismissing those that are untrue.)
However, Martires noted that some complainants want the respondents of their case to be immediately suspended.
鈥淎kala nila kasi na lahat na lang ng kaso na pwede i-file sa Ombudsman ay pwede na ma-preventive suspension,鈥� he said.
(They thought that all cases that could be filed with the Ombudsman could be subject to preventive suspension.)
鈥淗indi po, kasi may pamantayan ang batas na aming sinusunod kung kailang kami mag-i-issue ng preventive suspension. Dapat ang kaso na pinag-file sa amin would constitute grave misconduct, malakas ang ebidensya,鈥� Martires explained.
(No we don鈥檛 do that. The law we follow have a standard for when we will issue a preventive suspension. The case filed with us should constitute grave misconduct and the evidence is strong.)
Recently the Ombudsman denied the motion seeking to suspend House Speaker Martin Romualdez and three lawmakers over the alleged P241 billion worth of insertions in the 2025 national budget.
In a 10-page resolution dated March 7 but was released to the media on Tuesday, the Ombudsman said it dismissed the motion filed by Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, lawyer Ferdie Topacio, and PDP-Laban senatorial candidate Atty. Jimmy Bondoc for 鈥渦tter paucity of merit鈥� or lack of merit.
The Ombudsman also ordered the complaint be 鈥渟uspended鈥� and 鈥渉eld in abeyance,鈥� until such time that the Supreme Court 鈥渉as resolved with finality鈥� the petition certiorari and prohibition filed by Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, lawyer Victor Rodriguez, and others.
Aside from this, a criminal and administrative complaint was filed against Marikina Mayor Marcelino 鈥淢arcy鈥� Teodoro and five other Marikina officials.
The complaint was lodged last January 23 but was released to the media on Monday (March 10).
In the complaint, Rico Mariano, the sole proprietor of Maisie Enterprise鈥攁 business that provides office and school supplies鈥攁lleged that irregularities related to the procurement of various materials for the local government between 2018 and 2021 were committed by the Marikina officials.