Ombudsman: I won’t be used by any party
As he gets ready for his new job as ombudsman, Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Martires is assuring the public he will never allow any group or party to use his office as an instrument of political persecution.
He also vowed to initiate reforms in the agency, criticized by some quarters for supposed delays in the disposition of cases as well as for the alleged involvement of some of its prosecutors in corruption.
“My views have not changed. Sometimes, certain individuals file cases to harass political enemies,” Martires told reporters in Filipino during a visit to the Office of the Ombudsman central office in Quezon City yesterday. “I will not allow myself to be used by politicians to prosecute their political enemies. I don’t have that persecution complex.”
He was replying to a question about a pronouncement he made when he was still a Sandiganbayan magistrate that “politically motivated” cases should not be made to reach the anti-graft court.
President Duterte announced Martires’ appointment on Thursday in a speech at the 69th anniversary of Ipil town in Zamboanga Sibugay.
Martires replaced Conchita Carpio-Morales who retired on
Wednesday after completing a seven-year term.
Martires, 69, was a Sandiganbayan associate justice from 2005 during the Arroyo administration, until his appointment as Supreme Court associate justice in March 2017. He was the first appointee of Duterte to the SC.
Martires said his more than a decade stint at the Sandiganbayan has given him the wisdom to discern reforms that need to be instituted in the Office of the Ombudsman.
“With my more than 10-year stint at the Sandiganbayan, I can tell what is going on at the Office of the Ombudsman. Because when I was a Sandiganbayan justice, I personally observed the performance of the state prosecutors, I personally saw the quality of cases being filed in court,” Martires said.
“So, even before, I already have a strong opinion on the changes that need to be instituted at the Office of the Ombudsman. I did not expect that there will come a time that I will be the next Ombudsman,” he added.
Martires said the President’s appointment came as a surprise, considering the strong qualifications of two other contenders for the post – special prosecutor Edilberto Sandoval and private lawyer Felito Ramirez, who both graduated from law school with honors.
“My critics are calling me faith-shamer, but I cannot help myself from thanking the Lord for this appointment. I also thank our President for choosing me,” Martires said.
Earlier, a group of religious educators filed with the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) an opposition to Martires’ application for the ombudsman post. The group assailed him for “faith-shaming” then SC chief magistrate Maria Lourdes Sereno at the hearing of the quo warranto petition against her.
Martires was one of eight SC justices who voted to oust Sereno by upholding the quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida against her.
Duterte ally
Despite his being supposedly an ally of the Duterte administration, Martires vowed to be fair in handling pending complaints both against former president Benigno Aquino III and his officials as well as those against some administration executives.
Aquino, former health secretary Janette Garin, former executive secretary Pacquito Ochoa Jr. and former budget secretary Florencio Abad are facing plunder and graft complaints before the ombudsman in connection with the allegedly anomalous P3.5-billion Dengvaxia dengue mass vaccination program.
The ombudsman has also yet to resolve the pending motion for reconsideration filed by Aquino to stave off the filing against him of a case of usurpation of legislative powers in connection with the P72-billion Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
The ombudsman is also currently investigating former and incumbent members of Duterte’s Cabinet – among them Communications Assistant Secretary Margaux Uson for allegedly peddling “fake news,” Solicitor General Calida for alleged conflict of interest in connection with his family-owned security firm’s bagging millions of pesos worth of contracts with the government, and former tourism secretary Wanda Teo over alleged anomalous advertisement deals entered with a media firm owned by her brother Ben Tulfo.
Martires’ predecessor, Morales, had earlier confirmed that the ombudsman is still investigating Arroyo over alleged misuse of some P57-million confidential intelligence fund (CIF) of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) from 2004 to 2007.
An investigation is also ongoing against presidential son and former Davao City vice-mayor Paolo Duterte in connection with alleged misdeclarations in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs).
“If the evidence will show that there is probable cause for the filing of charges against any member of the (Duterte) family, why not. But if there’s none, I hope the public will respect the decision,” Martires said.
Although not yet officially at the helm of the Office of the Ombudsman, Martires ordered prosecutors yesterday to suspend the filing of cases with the Sandiganbayan until he formally assumes office as he wants to review the case records.
Martires said he will also look into the allegations of corrupt practices by some prosecutors and investigators such as the alleged taking of bribe to delay investigation.
Lauded
His appointment drew praises from former ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. “We should give him a chance. I am sure he would be independent and fair,” she said.
“The person has to be clean and up until now there is nothing that they can say against Justice Martires,” said Gutierrez who was ombudsman during the Arroyo administration.
“A very good person to my former office. Justice Martires has more than enough judicial experience and untarnished reputation. He would be an effective ombudsman,” she emphasized.
Gutierrez, who was impeached as ombudsman, also asked the officers and personnel at the Office of the Ombudsman to support their new boss.
“I know that while in the Sandiganbayan and now in the SC, he would do a good job especially his work at the Sandiganbayan he would know the cases and he would know how to deal with the Ombudsman investigation and the filing of cases,” said Gutierrez.
Senators are also generally satisfied with the appointment of Martires as the new ombudsman.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III aired his confidence that Martires would do well in his new post given his track record.
“It’s perhaps the reason he has the trust and confidence of the President,” Sotto said.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said that even though he does not know Martires that well, he has heard only good things about his work in the judiciary.
“I hope he will speed up the resolution of cases pending in the Ombudsman without fear or favor in its true and real sense,” Lacson said.
Sen. Francis Escudero comthe President Duterte for choosing Martires.
“He is a man of integrity and principle and would certainly complement the government’s efforts in fighting corruption and bring the corrupt to justice,” Escudero said.
One of the leaders of the opposition, Sen. Francis Pangilinan also welcomed the appointment of Martires.
Pangilinan, president of the Liberal Party, said he expects Martires to lead an honest-to-goodness anti-corruption drive that will not condone abuses and corruption of public officials.
“We hope Ombudsman Martires will not be a tool of anyone, and will go after corrupt officials by building a strong case backed by evidence,” Pangilinan said.
While the senators were generally optimistic about the appointment of Martires as ombudsman, civil society groups critical of the administration are not happy about the development.
The Coalition for Justice claimed that Martires had failed to show independence when he was still with the Sandiganbayan and the Supreme Court.
“His decisions have been suspiciously aligned with the interests of this and previous administrations,” the group said in a statement.
It noted how Martires sided with the declaration of martial law in Mindanao by President Duterte, the continued detention of Sen. Leila de Lima and the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
“This is the same Justice Martires who refused to inhibit himself from the quo warranto case against former chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno despite his clear demonstration of bias and faith-shamed her during the oral arguments,” the group stated.
“We are deeply concerned that the new ombudsman will not seriously pursue the illgotten wealth cases against resigned Davao City vice mayor Paolo Duterte, having acquitted the father, then mayor Rodrigo Duterte, once before,” it added.
‘Benefit of the doubt’
In a farewell message posted on Twitter, meanwhile, Morales said she was satisfied with the achievements of the ombudsman under her term, such as the reduction of case backlog.
Morales also said she wants to give Martires “the benefit of the doubt,” amid concerns he would be biased against administration critics.
“So I expect whoever will succeed me, to toe the line, in the sense that you should work hard, you should work efficiently, you should work with integrity and accountability,” Morales said.
Morales had earlier said that despite the high number of complaints she inherited in 2011 – totaling 19,000 – her office has brought down the number to manageable 6,000 in 2017.
“I would take pride that the incoming ombudsman is very lucky and I was not,” Morales yesterday said in a press conference in Taguig City organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.