by Rutchie Cabauug-Aguhob

Cagayan de Oro City (6 July) -- A total of 447 requests for assistance have been acted upon by the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB), Northern Mindanao based, for the first five (5) months, this year.

"Of this number, requests for endorsement of complaints topped the list with 166 cases," Atty. Ma. Iluminada S. Lapid-Viva, Regional Director of OMB, region 10, said.

She also said the requests for endorsements already include the statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN) and clearances to the OMB Sectoral Offices, as well as, queries from mediamen, job applicants and applicants for CPU/JGU accreditation.

Next was the issuance of clearances for retirement purposes, 129 cases, walk-in clients, 77 cases, follow-up cases, 28, phoned-in requests, 22 cases and regular clients, 13.

Meanwhile, Viva said OMB-10 has continued conducting the OMB Orientation/Public Accountability Seminars for government officials in the region.

"The seminars are aimed at acquainting the local government officials with the basic laws in governance, specifically on how to give prompt and efficient service to the public which is actually, among the measures initiated by the government to at least minimize corruption in the public sector," she said.

Topics discussed during the seminars include the procurement procedure and how to go about the creation of the bids and awards committees (BAC) and the role of its members.

Among those who attended the seminars were the deans and department heads of the Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City, middle-level executives of the Iligan City Government and officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) with ranks of Inspector and above at the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) in Camp Evangelista, Cagayan de Oro.

Other activities of OMB-10 during the period were: OMB Conference on Integrity Development and Public Accountability attended by the local officials of Bukidnon coming from the barangay to the provincial level.

The OMB as Watchdog of Graft and Corruption Practices/Moral Values Formation Towards Good Governance attended by personnel from non-government organizations, Dept. of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the PNP held in Barangay Bayabas, Cagayan de Oro.

The Roles of Human Resource Management Officers (HRMO) in Combating Graft and Corruption attended by the HRMO’s from the different government agencies of the region held at the Central Mindanao University (CMU), Musuan, Maramag, Bukidnon.