Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Use the law to do good, not to oppress.
That was the message of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales in her remarks after she was conferred the 鈥淗onoris Causa鈥� Doctor of Laws as an alumna of the University of the Philippines College of Law during graduation rites Monday night.
The retired Supreme Court justice reminded the graduates to use the law profession as a tool to do good should they become leaders of the country.
She said the country needed good leaders and not just leaders who succeed in their professions while engaged in corrupt practices, which Morales said was a social malady.
鈥淭he nation is banking on your generation to keep in mind and heart the virtue of 鈥榣ove of country鈥� as you become this nation鈥檚 future leaders,鈥� Morales said.
鈥淭he country does not need the best leaders, for, more often than not, they become the best after engaging themselves in shady compromises and illicit activities. It is enough that leaders remain good in the purest sense of the word,鈥� she added.
Morales urged the graduates to use the 鈥減owerful tool of law鈥� to remain true to their ideals, and not use it for oppression.
鈥淢y supplication to you, members of the UP Law 2016, is to give someone hope when all hope is lost; not to turn law into an instrument of oppression; and to be true to one鈥檚 ideals,鈥� Morales said.
鈥淭hese are our basic responsibilities in nation-building, our onus not only as lawyers but as simple citizens,鈥� she added.
Morales said corruption, the 鈥渟ocial malady鈥� that the Ombudsman is mandated to combat, remains a pervasive problem in the country.
鈥淭hat corruption is commonly observed to be increasingly becoming systematic is valid. No matter how many people we hold liable, no matter how many government officials we send to jail, if the system remains uncured, the vicious cycle of corruption will not stop,鈥� Morales said.
搁贰础顿:听Ombudsman: So many in gov鈥檛 are corrupt
Morales said the practical solutions to corruption were to prevent it and to weed it out from the roots.
鈥淭he ill-fated system itself will breed the next generation of corrupt leaders unless something is done with the roots,鈥� Morales said.
鈥淎s there is yet no absolute cure to corruption, prevention appears to be the only remedy against the spreading of this social malady,鈥� she added.
Morales said her office had been able to reduce its workload by half as it targeted zero backlog in 2018, when her term expires.
Total pending cases amounted to a 鈥渕anageable鈥� 7,328 cases in 2015, from a whopping 19,814 pending administrative and criminal cases when she assumed office in 2011, Morales said.
搁贰础顿:听Ombudsman Morales: My job is to indict the corrupt听
Morales said her office was able to utilize the Internet and social media for netizens to report complaints of corruption by errant public officials.
She added that her office in 2012 implemented its complaint and case monitoring system and a prosecution monitoring information system to improve monitoring and tracking of complaints and cases before the court.
鈥淭his growing power of information over the Internet is what the Office of the Ombudsman would want to maximize鈥� More than making the work of investigators easier, social media should empower our citizenry to be proactive partners in good governance and advocacy,鈥� Morales said.
She said that on top of the anticorruption drive, her office had to contend with allegations of partiality and selective justice when her office cracked down on public officials from the opposition while sparing administration allies.
鈥淭he Office is not perturbed, however. Such accusations are par for the course. It bears emphasis that we only adjudicate on the basis of evidence presented before us,鈥� Morales said.
READ:听鈥楴abubuwisit na ako!鈥� 鈥� Ombudsman Morales to critics听
The Ombudsman urged the new graduates, the 鈥渂aby boomers and millennials,鈥� to take into heart the 鈥渢ime-honored virtues of perseverance, industry, integrity, civility and loyalty.鈥�
鈥淜now that there鈥檚 is no right answer to the question, but know as well that having the license to practice law is an extraordinarily powerful tool. How you use your knowledge of the law is what makes the difference,鈥� Morales said.
鈥淗ow you act with that license will be your character,鈥� she added.
The Ombudsman is prosecuting the following high-profile corruption cases before the Sandiganbayan: the plunder case of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the P366-million charity funds mess and another one for graft related to the NBN-ZTE deal; and the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) plunder cases against Senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Jinggoy Estrada, and Juan Ponce Enrile.
Arroyo is under hospital detention at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center, while Revilla and Estrada are detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center.
Enrile was allowed to post bail by the Supreme Court on humanitarian grounds./rga
READ: Morales to pols accused of corruption: Stop crying harassment听