House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez on Thursday praised the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman for ensuring the dispensation of justice during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our justice system has been working despite the health risks posed by the COVID-19. The operationalization of the courts continued even during times of emergency,” Romualdez, representative of Leyte’s first district and chairman of the House Committee on Rules, said.
Romualdez made the statement after Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and Ombudsman Finance Director Weomark Ryan Layson paid him a courtesy call at Batasan Pambansa Complex in Quezon City.
Guevarra and Layson attended the House committee on appropriations briefing on the proposed budget of the DoJ and Ombudsman, respectively, under the 2022 P5.024-trillion national budget.
As a lawyer from the University of the Philippines and president of the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa), Romualdez said he expects the DoJ and Ombudsman to continue fulfilling their mandate of providing speedy answers to people’s clamor for justice, by ensuring fair and impartial trials and providing just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior.
“I am pleased with the great efforts and dedication of our judges and prosecutors in ensuring the adequacy of the judicial system is felt by the people during the pandemic when limited physical interaction is strictly observed,” he said.
“Thank you for the higher sense of justice in enforcing the law and defending the interests of the nation,” said Romualdez, president of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats.
The DoJ serves as the government’s prosecution arm and administers the government’s criminal justice system by investigating crimes, prosecuting offenders, and overseeing the correctional system.
As people’s protectors, the Ombudsman is mandated to act promptly on complaints filed in any form or manner against officers or employees of the government.