17 apply for powerful Ombudsman post. Who are front-runners?

There are 17 people who are set to undergo public interviews for the powerful Ombudsman post, the next test for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is also in the middle of a shaky Cabinet reset.

The Ombudsman pick is among the most important for Marcos, who grapples with a popularity drop in the midterms, and is still doing loyalty checks in the administration. On its own, the Ombudsman post is immensely powerful. The Ombudsman can suspend, fire, and prosecute public officials — and on the line is Vice President Sara Duterte herself. The Ombudsman is impeachable and will serve for seven whole years, spilling into the midterms of the next president.

Who is he going to choose? Many names have been floated since months before, and in fact the list is missing some buzz-worthy names. We have identified some front-runners.

Rappler has confirmed that this is the list of applicants now with the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), the eight-person panel who will vet and then send a short list to the president. The list follows the order by which they applied. As in all appointments, this will be a very politically-charged appointment, but is distinct from the Cabinet because of the JBC layer.

The public will get to watch these applicants being interviewed, and any one can send an opposition to the JBC.

1. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan
2. Former BIR commissioner Kim (Henares) Jacinto
3. Former COA and now PCC Chairperson Michael Aguinaldo
4. Judge Jayson Rodenas
5. Sandiganbayan Justice Michael Musngi
6. CHR Commissioner Beda Epres
7. CA Justice Bautista Corpin
8. Deputy Executive Secretary Lisa Logan
9. DILG Undersecretary Romeo Benitez
10. PCSO Chairperson Felix Reyes
11. Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Geraldine Econg
12. Atty. Melvin Matibag
13. Retired Supreme Court justice Mario Lopez
14. Retired Court of Appeals justice Stephen Cruz
15. Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla
16. Retired judge Benjamin
17. Atty. Jonie Caroche

The tentative dates for the JBC public interviews are July 30, 31, August 1, 4, and 6.

Front-runners

Out of the 17, Aguinaldo’s name has been circulated since last year. He was former president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino’s appointee to chair the Commission on Audit (COA), and Aguinaldo’s term there was marked by audit reports about the pandemic spending that rocked the Rodrigo Duterte administration. Aguinaldo was later on appointed by Marcos to chair the Philippine Competition Commission. Aguinaldo belongs to the same Ateneo Law circle as First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos. (The First Lady was a guest in Aguinaldo’s wedding in 2015.)

Apart from Aguinaldo, legal circles were abuzz with the names of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Justice Undersecretary Jose Cadiz. Bersamin was retained as executive secretary in the Cabinet reset, and we heard Cadiz eventually decided against applying.

Remulla’s name followed soon, and the justice chief was the first to publicly confirm his application. He was also among the last to apply. Remulla is an ex-officio member of the JBC by virtue of his being justice secretary, but he is now deemed inhibited from this JBC post.

Rappler has been hearing the names of Justices Lopez and Gaerlan for a while now, especially after Lopez retired. Gaerlan is not due to retire until 2028, and if he is appointed, he will follow in the footsteps of outgoing Ombudsman Samuel Martires, who did not serve his full term in the Supreme Court just to be able to take on the next post.

This means that an Ombudsman appointment for Gaerlan is beneficial to Marcos because it will create another vacancy in the Supreme Court. Without a Gaerlan vacancy, Marcos can only appoint four justices. In the event that Gaerlan is chosen as Ombudsman, Marcos will get to choose five justices in a bench full of Duterte appointees. Marcos already made his first appointment in the person of Justice Raul Villanueva, and he will make another pick to replace Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, who will retire in November 2026.

Former tax commissioner Kim Henares is quite a surprise, as well as Human Rights Commissioner Beda Epres. Epres was appointed to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) by Marcos, but among the applicants, he has the most Ombudsman experience as he is a career official at the Office of the Ombudsman. Before moving to the CHR, Epres had been short-listed for deputy ombudsman posts.

Econg is also quite unexpected especially since Marcos has just appointed her the presiding justice of the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan. Marcos put her at the helm of the Sandiganbayan only January this year. Before Aquino appointed Econg as a Sandiganbayan justice in January 2016, she was working as an official of the Supreme Court. In the Sandiganbayan, Econg penned the controversial decision that acquitted Bong Revilla of his plunder case.

Musngi was Econg’s Sandiganbayan batchmate in one of Aquino’s last sets of appointees to the judiciary. Musngi is also an Ateneo Law graduate like the First Lady.

Apart from the politically-charged Sara Duterte issues, the next Ombudsman has a chance to redefine the Office. Will we see more prosecutions of big cases, will the public regain access to officials’ Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs), for example?

The Ombudsman appointment is crucial to any presidency, and Marcos’ mettle will again be tested. Will he choose out of pure merit? How strategic will he be? How much sway will the First Lady have in this pick? Stay tuned. – Rappler.com