(Unsplash)

A dejected Ombudsman Samuel Martires told congressmen Monday, Sept. 11 that he believed corruption in the Philippines won't get solved within "our lifetime".

Martires, during the House Committee on Appropriations' deliberation on the Office of the Ombudsman's 2024 budget, discussed the extent of corruption in the country.

"Ang nangyayari ngayon, wala na tayong respeto sa Diyos, wala na tayong respeto sa sarili natin (What's happening now is, we've lost our respect for God, we've lost our respect for ourselves). So, not during our lifetime, we'll be able to solve corruption," he said.

Martires, who heads the body that serves as the investigator of cases of graft and corruption in government, described incidents of corruption in the country as "endemic".

"Ang corruption po ngayon sa Pilipinas ay nagiging parang fashion (Now, corruption in the Philippines is becoming like fashion); it becomes a fad," Martires said.

"Because money becomes power; and if you have power, eh talagang...sikat ka.Tumataas po ang incidence mg corruption sa bawat ahensya ng gobyerno. At magugulat po kayo," he told the appropriations panel.

(If you have money, then you're really popular. Corruption incidence is going up in all agencies of government. And you'll be surprised.)

"Mayroong mga departmento ng gobyerno na hindi niyo akalain ay corrupt, akala niyo natutulog, pero mas corrupt pala iyon sa ibang ahensya ng gobyerno na akala niyo ay corrupt," the Ombudsman further said.

(There are departments in government that you don't realize is corrupt, but is actually more corrupt than other agencies that are corrupt.)

Some P5.05 billion was set aside for the Office of the Ombudsman under the P5.768-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2024. This is P1.67 billion less than its requested budget of P6.7 billion from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).