Office of the Ombudsman main building. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File
MANILA — The Office of the Ombudsman and the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) signed a data-sharing agreement on Tuesday to give the graft-busting body investigators faster and controlled access to government procurement records.
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said the agreement would reduce the time investigators spend requesting documents from the PS-DBM.
"Until now, what an Ombudsman investigator needed, whether a big notice, a notice of a bar, a contract, or a supplier's registration document, we had to write a letter," Remulla said in a speech.
"Then we waited for times, waited for days, sometimes just weeks. And in an investigation, time matters. Documents are severe, memory is free, and respondents are able to prepare. So, we have to create only access," he added.
Under the agreement, Ombudsman investigators will be able to access procurement data in the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS), including information on registered suppliers, their submitted documents and the beneficial owners behind corporate entities.
"We will be able to see who registered as a supplier, what documents they submitted, and, importantly, who the beneficial owners behind corporate leaders are," Remulla said.
Remulla said the agreement could cut the time needed to obtain procurement records from weeks to hours.
"What used to take weeks of correspondence can now be done in an afternoon. But this agreement is more than about speed, it is about culture," Remulla said.
He said gaps between government agencies could make it harder to find connections among transactions and entities. Remulla cited examples of schemes that investigators could examine through access to consolidated procurement information.
"It is the contractor who wins under one company name today and another tomorrow. It is the official who splits a contract to avoid public bidding, counting on nobody putting the business together," he said.
"It is the network of public corporations that all trace back to the same people. These schemes depend on distance, on the assumption that no one will connect the dots," he added.
However, the agreement does not give investigators unrestricted access to PhilGEPS data. Access will be limited to authorized personnel and subject to authentication, authorization, monitoring, logging and auditing, according to Remulla.
"Let me also be clear about what this agreement is not. It is not a license to go fishing, to go on fishing expeditions," he stressed.
Remulla added: "It is bound by the Data Privacy Act and the rules of the National Privacy Commission. We will use this access only for investigative investigation, prosecution and corruption prevention."
The agreement also urges the Ombudsman to provide PS-DBM information in its custody for data clarification, verification and system improvements, subject to restrictions on confidential or ongoing investigations.
"This is also a two-way approach. PS-DBM gives us access and in return, the Ombudsman commits to give feedback," the Ombudsman said.
"Where we see inconsistencies in the data, where the system can be improved, or where the rules are being exploited, we do not want only to catch wrongdoing after the fact. Build a concurrent system where wrongdoing is harder to commit in the first place," he added.
The five-year agreement states that data accessed under the arrangement must be retained only for as long as necessary to fulfill its stated purpose. Upon its expiration or termination, the data must be secured, archived or disposed of in a manner that prevents unauthorized access or disclosure.
Remulla said the signing should be treated as the start of improved data-sharing efforts among government agencies.
"This is a good day. But it is the beginning, not the end. The agreement itself says that API integration and the persistent linkages may follow. Let us not let this be the last step. Let us make data sharing between agencies the norm and not the exception," he said.
"The Filipino people have waited long enough for a government that does not hide from them. Let us give them one."
TO AID IN CASES VS. ROMUALDEZ
Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said the agreement could also support the agency's investigations into alleged irregularities in flood control projects, including cases being prepared against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
"Matatakot na rin ang gustong abuso sa sistema ng gobyerno dahil… lahat ng nire-report nila ay makikita agad ng mga oversight agencies," Clavano told reporters during an ambush interview.
Asked about Romualdez's bail petition filed on Monday, Clavano said the Ombudsman trusts the Sandiganbayan to make the right decision based on the facts presented before the court.
"We trust in the judiciary. We want to make sure that these processes are met with the sanctity and respect needed," Clavano said.