Morales: I’m entitled to full 7-year term

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales yesterday maintained that she is entitled to a full seven years in office, contrary to the statement of President Duterte that she must only serve the remaining year of the term of her predecessor who resigned in 2011.

In an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the 2017 Ramon Magsaysay Awards ceremony in Manila, Morales explained that under

the Ombudsman Act of 1989, “the appointed successor of a previous ombudsman shall serve for a full term.”

“We are following the law. The Ombudsman Act of 1989, Section 8 paragraph number 3, says that when the incumbent ombudsman leaves the office by reason of death or removal, resignation or permanent disability, the deputy ombudsman shall be the acting ombudsman until a new ombudsman is appointed who shall serve for a full term,” she said.

Morales was appointed by then president Benigno Aquino III in July 2011 shortly after her predecessor Merceditas Gutierrez resigned on March 22, 2011 to preempt impeachment proceedings at the House of Representatives.

Gutierrez, who assumed office on Dec. 1, 2005, served six years of a sevenyear term.

During a speech before newly appointed officials in Malacañang on Tuesday, Duterte questioned Morales’ stay in office, saying that she should have just served the remaining year of Gutierrez’s term.

Duterte also slammed Morales over her office’s supposed “selective justice,” especially in handling the pork barrel scam cases.

He said the ombudsman is prosecuting only those perceived as enemies of the previous administration.

“It seems that the Office of the Ombudsman has mastered the art of selective justice – hard on some, soft on others... slow to act on complaints against the friendly but quick to decide against perceived hostiles,” he said.

Morales, a 2016 Ramon Magsaysay awardee, maintained that her office is fair in prosecuting those allegedly involved in the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.

She stressed that under the Ombudsman Act, her office prioritizes high-profile cases involving ranking government officials and huge sums of money.

She said they opted to prioritize the filing of cases against then senators Ramon Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile, being top government officials with “testimonial claims against them” at the time made by the alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

“I recall that when I was new there (in the Office of the Ombudsman), and the PDAF cases came out, Ms. Napoles came out with an affidavit targeting three senators – Enrile, Estrada, and Revilla,” Morales said.

“Given the fact that there is already this testimonial claim against them, mauna yan definitely (definitely we will prioritize them), because hindi ka na maghirap maghanap ng ebidensya (you don’t have to spend so much time finding evidence), of course on top of what you gathered,” she added.