Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla has likened President Marcos’ anti-corruption message in his previous State of the Nation Address (SONA) to national hero Dr. Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, saying both awakened people to the need to confront wrongdoing.

When asked about his expectations for the Chief Executive’s upcoming SONA, Remulla recalled reading Rizal’s novels and said Marcos’ remarks during last year’s address carried a message similar to that of the two literary works.

“May nabasa ako on the way to work. Naisip ko lang ‘yung isang binabasa ko noong araw pa ‘yung Noli Me Tangere at El Filibusterismo. ‘Yun ang nagsimula ng pag-pukaw ng utak ng tao na hindi na pwede ang ginagawa ng mga Kastila noong araw (I read something on my way to work. It reminded me of something I had read years ago, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Those were the works that first awakened people to the realization that what the Spaniards were doing at the time could no longer be tolerated),” he said during a media briefing on Friday, July 17.

“‘Yung ginawa ng Presidente last year is something similar. Dapat tumigil na ‘yan. ‘Mahiya naman kayo.’ I think it’s a very good move on his part, and we just have to sail through the rough waters of public expectation kasi ‘yan talaga ang problema sa pulitika (What the President did last year was something similar. Those things have to stop. ‘Shame on you.’ I think it was a very good move on his part, and we just have to sail through the rough waters of public expectation because that’s really the challenge in politics),” he went on.

Remulla said the administration also has to contend with rising public expectations, noting that many Filipinos have long been waiting for meaningful change.

“Ang tao impatient na, matagal nang nagtitiis ang taumbayan. Ako, batid na batid ko ’yon (People have become impatient. The public has endured these problems for a long time. I know that all too well),” he said.

Currently, the Office of the Ombudsman is conducting separate investigations into alleged irregularities in flood-control projects and possible conflict of interest involving lawmakers accused of also working as government contractors.

Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo exposed the injustices of Spanish colonial rule, stirred nationalist sentiment, and helped inspire the Philippine Revolution.

In his SONA last year, President Marcos publicly rebuked officials and contractors behind allegedly anomalous flood-control projects, telling them, “Mahiya naman kayo (Shame on you).”

He said some supposed flood-control projects were merely “pigments of imagination” and blamed corruption for the failure of infrastructure meant to protect communities from heavy rains and typhoons.