The Office of the Ombudsman lacks manpower.
This is what Ombudsman Samuel Martires said regarding the proposal of Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra to assign a resident Ombudsman in every government agency so as to avoid corruption activities.
"Sabi ko sige, ang problema ko lang kako is yung tao. Kasi yung mga tao - yung dating resident Ombudsman - na-assign na sa iba’t ibang departments, doon sila pinaglalagay. Kung i-rerevive ko yun, ang poproblemahin ko is yung tao (I said yes, my only problem is manpower. Because the people - the past resident Ombudsman - they were assigned to different departments. If I were to revive it, I would have to worry about manpower)," he said.
During the time of former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, Martires said there were resident Ombudsman who were given allowances and provided with service vehicles. This did not fare well with Morales, said Martires, because she felt their jobs were being compromised. So she recalled them and had them distributed in different offices.
"These lawyers are now assigned to different offices and they are busy with their own work, ang hirap kako i-pull out (it will be hard to pull them out)," he said.
Martires said he and Guevarra agreed to have a resident Ombudsman in every department "in principle." He suggested that the fiscal and prosecutors be deputized. "But of course they will not be called deputy Ombudsman because they are not employees of the office of the Ombudsman," he said.
As of now, the Office of the Ombudsman is hiring more people. Martires shared that he is beefing up the field investigation office, so he is recruiting more investigators. His next target is to strengthen the public assistance unit.