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Graft-busting grandma jailing corrupt Philippine politicians

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Ayee Macaraig, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/nation/8/31/083116_conchita.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">This picture taken on August 23, 2016 shows Philippine Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales posing for a picture at the Office of the Ombudsman in Manila. Noel Celis, AFP.</div></figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - The Philippines&#x27; top graft-buster, a fearless grandmother who has sued politicians from the president down in her quest to rid her country of corruption, laughs in the face of death threats -- literally.Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, 75, chuckled as she recounted to AFP how she was reluctantly obliged to put up a higher fence around her house after a grenade with her initials on it was discovered by her property in 2012.&quot;I&#x27;m not scared,&quot; she said, her eyes flashing as she thumped her hand on the desk in her office.The people she investigates &quot;are the ones who are intimidated -- that&#x27;s why they are trying to scare me&quot;.Fighting corruption is dangerous work in the graft-plagued Philippines, where witnesses -- even judges -- are gunned down and convicted politicians are freed and re-elected.After four decades in the country&#x27;s notoriously corrupt judiciary, Morales was looking forward to retirement when former president Benigno Aquino asked her to head a special body to prosecute corrupt officials as part of his centrepiece anti-graft crusade.On Wednesday, her &quot;moral courage and commitment to justice in taking head-on one of the most intractable problems in the Philippines,&quot; is set to be recognized when she will be awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award -- Asia&#x27;s version of the Nobel.&quot;She is, quite simply, an inspiring public servant,&quot; the judges said.<div>INDICT &#x27;SACRED COWS&#x27;</div>Born into a family of honest lawyers, Morales had a slow and tricky rise through the ranks due to her incorruptibility, but finally made it to the Supreme Court, where she became the first female magistrate to swear in a president in 2010.A tireless worker, she now puts in 12-hour days, six days a week at the Ombudsman -- Sundays are reserved for the grandchildren -- and her discipline is credited with boosting the office&#x27;s conviction rate to 75 percent from just 41 percent when she took office in 2011.Despite progress under Aquino, fighting &quot;endemic&quot; corruption in the Philippines is an uphill battle, she said, adding that corruption flourishes when people think they can get away with it.&quot;We file cases against top government officials,&quot; she said.When the &quot;so-called sacred cows are indicted, that should give a signal to people to be more cautious,&quot; she added.Her biggest frustration came when the Supreme Court freed ex-president Gloria Arroyo and powerful former senator Juan Ponce Enrile despite what Morales insists was solid evidence of graft.The pair had pleaded ill-health for years and were detained in government hospitals but it was all an act, Morales said: &quot;after you are free... you swagger!&quot;Her tenaciousness has earned her many enemies, including former vice president Jejomar Binay, who called her &quot;stupid&quot; after she charged him with taking huge kickbacks when he was mayor.But she argues the Philippines&#x27; culture of political patronage is allowing top leaders to evade accountability.&quot;They act like they&#x27;re Robin Hood,&quot; she said.When her son died of cancer at 41 last year, some of her more unpleasant critics used the personal tragedy to attack her.&quot;They said it was my karma. See how cruel people are?&quot; she said, adding that she was however &quot;made of strong stuff&quot;.Morales, who is not due to step down until 2018, will continue her work under new President Rodrigo Duterte, but said her agency will remain impartial.&quot;We do not take orders from anyone. We are independent. Period.&quot;<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RcPfcQjquuc" width="560"></iframe></figure>

MANILA - The Philippines' top graft-buster, a fearless grandmother who has sued politicians from the president down in her quest to rid her country of corruption, laughs in the face of death threats -- literally.

MANILA - The Philippines' top graft-buster, a fearless grandmother who has sued politicians from the president down in her quest to rid her country of corruption, laughs in the face of death threats -- literally.

Graft-busting grandma jailing corrupt Philippine politicians

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Graft-busting grandma jailing corrupt Philippine politicians

Ayee Macaraig,

Agence France-Presse

Published Aug 31, 2016 03:41 PM PHT

|

Updated Sep 01, 2016 12:38 AM PHT

Read More:

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales

corruption

graft

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