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Duterte says no to politician, woman for new Ombudsman
FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte RENE LUMAWAG/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
The President revealed that he would not want the next person to fill the Ombudsman post to be a politician and ‘most especially not a woman.’
According to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, while the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) will have to come up with a list of nominees for the to-be-vacant position, but he also has a list of qualities.
“Mag-nominate sila (JBC) pero I choose, gusto ko ‘yung bilib ang tao sa integrity niya. Of course, it could not be a politician, lalo na hindi babae (JBC will nominate but I will choose someone that the people believe in his integrity. Of course it could not be a politician, most especially not a woman),” Duterte said in a chance interview with the media in Malacañang on May 16, Wednesday.
The President did not explain further why he wanted these qualities.
Meanwhile, he said that in choosing the next Ombudsman, “I’ll have to consult everybody. I will even have to consult the Ombudsman people, not [Conchita Carpio] Morales, and marami para sigurado ‘yung gusto ng tao (many others to ensure that this person is someone the people like).”
Morales, 76, appointed by former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III in 2011 will be retiring from her post on July 26.
Apart from Aquino, four other former chief executives have appointed her to other judicial posts in previous administrations including Ferdinand Marcos, Corazon “Cory” Aquino, Fidel Ramos, and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Currently, ten people have been nominated which included Edna Batacan, Rex Rico, Rey Ifurung, Rainier Madrid, and Felito Ramirez, Judge Carlos Espero II, Special Prosecutor Edilberto Sandoval, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Martires, and Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Efren dela Cruz.
Solicitor General Jose Calida, Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, and House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Representative Rodolfo Fariñas were also nominated but they rejected their received nominations.
