Drilon asks Ombudsman to submit specific amendments to anti-graft law

MANILA, Philippines – Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Wednesday urged the Office of the Ombudsman to lay down possible amendments it wants to be made to strengthen the country’s anti-graft law.
In a radio interview, Drilon said Ombudsman Samuel Martires should submit specific proposals to strengthen Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and make the law “more attuned to the present times.”
“Ang sinabi po niya ay 1987 pa ang batas sa Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees kaya akin pong hinihling sa Ombudsman, can we be favored kung ano ang proposed amendments sa batas para mapalakas ang ma-update ang batas?” he said.
“I suspect that the views of the Ombudsman reflects the thinking of the Supreme Court being a former member of the High Court and a Sandiganbayan justice,” he added.
Drilon issued the remarks after Martires said on Tuesday that he has stopped the conduct of lifestyle checks on government officials as he expressed misgivings on the existing provisions of the law.
“Nung umupo ako, pinatigil ko muna ang lifestyle check kasi matagal na ako may duda sa probisyon ng batas tungkol sa lifestyle check. Gusto ko i-propose sa Congress ng amendments sa 6713 kasi yug provisions there, Malabo, walang hulog sa logic,” Martires said.
“Bakit ko pinatigil? What is living beyong your means? Iyong kumikita ng P50,000 a month, lives in a small house, nakaipon, bumili ng BMW na promo, zero interest, kayang-kaya niya hulugan, is he living beyon his means? I don’t think so. What he has are distorted values and distorted priorities,” he added.
Earlier this month, Martires also restricted access to the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth of public officials submitted to his office.
Drilon believes that addressing the concerns raised by the Ombudsman will be a big boost in the fight against corruption.
Corruption cases are brought to the courts, the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan, he added.
“Hence, it behooves Congress to listen to what the judiciary is saying and find out how it can amend the law and make it attuned with the times,” Drilon said.
“We will examine the existing law and we will look at measures to further strengthen the principle of transparency,” he added.