Ombudsman Conchita
Carpio-Morales is taking leniency behind and gives more teeth to environmental
laws with the appointment of Deputy Ombudsman (DO) Gerard Mosquera as the new
Environmental Ombudsman.
In pursuant to a
2004 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between then Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo and
the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), around 26 lawyers from the Office
of the Ombudsman will serve as the resurrected environmental team to
investigate and prosecute violators of covered laws, as well as non-implementation
of Philippine environmental standards. Also designated to support the team is
Atty. Raquel Rosario Cunanan-Marayag as Assistant Environmental Ombudsman and Officer-in-Charge
of the Public Assistance and Corruption Prevention Bureau.
Under the MOA, the Environmental Ombudsman is bound to monitor and uphold constant scrutiny on violators of environmental laws and policies, while IBP acts as the reviewing/recommending authority on complaints and reports undergoing preliminary investigations. Reported officials who refuse to take action will then be forwarded to the Environmental Ombudsman to face appropriate judicial process. Either way, the Ombudsman remains the final approving authority, Carpio-Morales confirmed.
Likewise, the MOA stipulates the link of the two primary governing bodies with other government law enforcement agencies such as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The reactivation
of the MOA after almost a decade might be a bit overdue, but it is certainly a
huge leap in the office’s mandate and big step in Carpio-Morales’ clean-up of
the slate. It concurrently empowers the judicial system in the country by imposing
a multifaceted eye, both in the enforcing and prosecuting levels.
In its entire
auspicious perimeter, Ombudsman Morales’ action ensures solution by gunning end
to end characters – the violators to whom the laws are enacted to and the
elected and appointed public officials suspected of being negligent of their
duties. Monitoring is expected to widen threefold as the agreement is designed to
cover all areas of the judicial process up to the implementation of sanctions.
As promising as
it is, DO Mosquera is an outstanding choice for the job, having been assigned
as a commissioner at the Presidential Commission on Good Government prior to
his current post. More than a clean name in the public office, he is
academically capable, landing second in the 1993 Bar Examinations and
subsequently earning Masters of Law degree from Kings College London and
Masters in Public Administration degree from Harvard University.
His work on
anti-corruption programs of the United Nations and involvement in the creation
and organization of East Timor’s first Anti-Corruption Commission gives him and
the country an edge towards successful environmental protection.
Qualifications
aside, the question now is how far the new environmental team can go in terms
of catching the “big fishes” anticipated to be swimming under the auspices of padrinos. As they keep an updated list
of complaints and violations and issues, will they be able to keep big-time environmental
plunderers at bay?
DENR Sec. Ramon
Paje commended the decision of Ombudsman Carpio-Morales as a "display of
political will to enforce environmental laws." He added that the act
placed the citizens’ environmental rights at a more prominent position in the
Aquino administration as it grapples with graft and corruption.
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| Photo courtesy of BicolToday.com |
The DENR
welcomed the new appointment as they battle their way through environmental
justice, and that includes battling DENR if necessary. Secretary Paje, himself,
is facing criminal and administrative charges which are covered by the
Environmental Ombudsman – case against RA 3019 or Anti-Graft and Corrupt
Practices Act and RA 6713. Paje, together with Sorsogon Governor Raul Lee and
Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Reynulfo Juan, faces raps for failure to
act on the environmental damages caused by an on-going mining operation of iron
ore in the Municipality of Matnog in the same province.
_________________________
James Henry Abrina is an editor, writer, SEO specialist and currently a Corporate Communication Professional, Market Desk Strategist, Business Development Officer and Unit Head for Business Profiles Incorporated.
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