Apostol on corrupt govt execs, workers: ‘Worst among all criminals'
What could be worse than murderers, rapists, bank robbers and the lowliest of society's scammers and scum?
For Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol, not even in the league of said criminals thus a "league of their own" are corrupt government officials and employees.
Primary reason for the existence of said Office, Apostol lost no words in tagging these erring public servants as "worst among all criminals."
The former Marine, Budget Specialist, lawyer, prosecutor now serves as head of the government's anti-graft body in the Visayas.
He marked his first year in office with six more years to go as Deputy Ombudsman. Apostol who hails from Bugasong, Antique and married to an Ilongga from Cabatuan, Iloilo spoke of his serious desire to effect serious changes while in office.
"This is a serious fight and campaign that we have. It is a major crime to take advantage of the people and the people's money… And so we will pursue this… we will strengthen our linkages with civil society groups and reach out to our junior graftwatch volunteers… you will see... one day we will succeed," Apostol said in an interview.
Repeatedly Apostol issued the appeal for community involvement. He said he is encouraged by the influx of complaints and reports since the Office of the Ombudsman opened here in Iloilo City.
"It is a tough job but we have to do it," he said.
Among the successful campaign in Western Visayas is the "Oplan Red Plate" where tips are sent on sightings of government vehicles after office hours. From text messages, to personal reports and phone-in tips, the Office of the Ombudsman here has since pursued and validated hundreds of positive sightings.
"That is people's money wasted on unofficial time. That is not acceptable," Apostol stressed.
Meantime, the Office of the Ombudsman reported of a significant increase on conviction rates before the Sandiganbayan. From 25% in January 2008, figures show a high of 76% in August this year.
Latest data culled from the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) also revealed that the Office obtained a national 71.43% conviction rate in July this year.
"Based on said data, out of 25 total number of decided cases for the month of August, 19 resulted in convictions while only six resulted in acquittals. On the other hand, for the month of July, of the seven total number of decided cases, five resulted in convictions and two acquittals," an Ombudsman news release went. "During the preceding months, from January to June,2008, the Office of the Ombudsman's conviction rate was relatively low: 25% in January; 9.01% in February; 4.54% in March; 3.33% in May and 7.14% in June; except in the month of March when it achieved a 66.67% conviction rate.
The July, 2008 conviction rate is higher by 31.43% compared to the 40% conviction rate obtained by the Office of the Ombudsman in July,2007 . Likewise, the August, 2008 conviction rate is 29.34% higher than the 46.66% conviction rate garnered by the Office for the same month last year. The OMB got a 55.67% conviction rate in 2007. Based on records, out of 185 total number of decided cases, 103 resulted in convictions."