Makati Business Club, anti-graft group asks Ombudsman to resign

MANILA, Philippines - The Coalition Against Corruption, which includes the Makati Business Club (MBC), has asked Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez to step down for being “liability in the fight to stamp out corruption." “This Ombudsman is not competent enough to hold this very important position and we, who are taxpayers, really should demand that she steps down," said Jose L. Cuisia Jr., the coalition’s chairman and an MBC trustee. The coalition made this announcement after the Ombudsman “poorly handled" and “failed to act" on controversial graft cases including the Fertilizer Fund Scam, the overpriced Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard, the ZTE National Broadband deal, and World Bank road projects that were won through rigged bidding. Ombudsman Gutierrez “seems very well satisfied just sitting in her office and wait for evidence, witnesses and information to fall into her lap," Vincent Lazatin, steering committee member of CAC and executive director of Transparency and Accountability Network, said. He underscored the power of the Office of the Ombudsman which, even without any complaint, can investigate alleged corrupt practices. Although the group does not have a candidate for the position, Cuisia said that the coalition can easily come up with a list of qualified persons in a week once Gutierrez resigns. An Ombudsman should be “a committed public defender, a staunch protector of the victims of corruption, with independence and integrity, and a sentinel of justice," Cuisia said. Among the groups that compose the CAC include the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections, the Transparency and Accountability Network, and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. Other members include the Ateneo School of Government, Barug Pilipino, Caucus of Development NGO Networks, and the CBCP-National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace. - GMANews.TV