TACLOBAN CITY – The 17-member team selected and formed by the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas formally took their oaths last Wednesday to officially compose the initial strength and manpower of the Ombudsman office in the region 8.
The oath-taking ceremony held at the Civil Service Commission (CSC-8) regional office in Palo was spearheaded by CSC-8 Regional Director Atty. David Cabanag Jr. who challenged the new members of the Ombudsman in the region to live up to the expectations of the public and conduct their duties sincerely according to the law.
The employees, equipped with special qualifications to suit the office’s sensitive demands ,would fill in the staff and personnel of the newly-created Office of the Ombudsman regional office in Region 8 whose office is located in Marasbaras area, this city.
Lawyer Edwin Tabaranza, the only lawyer in the 17-member team, is being touted as the one who would head the regional Office of Ombudsman.
But in a short interview with Leyte Samar Daily Express, Tabaranza said he is not so sure yet if he would indeed lead the new personnel and staff of the office.
He said his designation is graft investigation and prosecution officer and he has yet to see the papers appointing him as the chief of office which is a decision that would come from the Office of the Ombudsman in Cebu.
“This is just the first batch. I heard there will still be next batch of recruitment to increase the strength of the office here to be made by the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas in Cebu,” Tabaranza said.
According to him, they all applied for the vacant items and have undergone the tedious process of selection and were eventually chosen to fill in the office.
“We will perform our duties according to the expectations of the office and rest assured that we will always uphold the law as we have emphasized in our oath of office,” Tabaranza said.
The oath -taking was also witnessed by Dr. Belle Quijano, chief of the Corruption Prevention Office of the Ombudsman- Visayas, who congratulated the new members of the office and gave them the orientation about their functions and responsibilities which she said could be more sensitive given the natural mandate of the office.
Quijano said the main function of the Office of the Ombudsman in Region 8 for the meantime would just be to receive complaints and forward them to Cebu for investigation and decision-making.
According to her, the office in Cebu would still docket the complaints submitted from Region 8 whether what type of case they should belong.
But, she said, those concerns which may not require fact finding activities or may not be categorized as administrative or criminal cases but only require the office’s assistance may be treated by the office in Region 8 expeditiously. | 
