ALAWMAKER over the weekend backed the 2016 budget increase of the Office of the Ombudsman, Sandiganbayan and the Commission on Audit (COA).
Liberal Party Rep. Roman Romulo of Pasig City said the increased funding of these agencies will help them fight corruption, as well as promote clean governance.
“The struggle for reforms is never done, because the temptation to commit fraud and abuse is always there. This is why we have to invest constantly in fighting corruption and promoting clean governance,” Romulo said.
In the proposed General Appropriations Act of 2016, which are under committee deliberations at the House of Representatives, the Ombudsman is getting P1.78 billion, a cumulative 68-percent increase from its P1.06-billion budget in 2010, or the start of the Aquino administration.
“This should enable the Ombudsman, which receives around 10,600 new complaints every year, to aggressively investigate and prosecute officials accused of graft and corruption,” Romulo said.
The Sandiganbayan is getting P505.9 million next year, 51 percent bigger than its allocation in 2010.
“The fresh funding will cover the creation of two new divisions of the special antigraft court, and speed up the resolution of cases filed by the Ombudsman,” Romulo said.
A total of 3,105 cases were pending before the antigraft tribunal as of June 30, 2015.
The Sandiganbayan hears and decides criminal and civil cases involving graft-and-corrupt practices and other offenses committed by public officers and employees, including those in state-owned corporations.
Meanwhile, the COA is receiving P9.13 billion next year—an increase of nearly 140 percent from its allotment in 2010—to build up its audit services via the hiring of additional staff and the adoption of new technologies.
“We have very high hopes that these incremental investments in the Ombudsman, Sandiganbayan and the COA will help suppress malfeasance and generate new savings for taxpayers,” Romulo said.