The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has reset the deliberations scheduled today for the selection of the head of the Office of the Ombudsman to October 6.
Supreme Court (SC) spokesperson Atty. Camille L. Ting explained yesterday that the adjustment will allow more time for the new Senate Committee on Justice Chairperson Senator Francis Pangilinan to review the application documents.
“This adjustment covers not only the Ombudsman post but also other vacancies currently being processed by the JBC,” she said.
Last week, Pangilinan formally accepted the chairmanship of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights for the second time having previously headed it during from 2001 to 2004.
Said post was previously held by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano who represented the Senate in the JBC during the public interview conducted last month.
The adjustment of the deliberation will give candidates more time to submit their clearance required to prove that an applicant is not facing any criminal or administrative case, Ting said.
Earlier this week, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said he has yet to submit his clearance due to the motion for reconsideration filed by Senator Imee Marcos after the complaint against him has already been dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman.
He also explained that the complaint filed by Davao City acting mayor Sebastian Duterte against him and several others is forum shopping considering a pending petition before the SC with the legality of the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte and his transfer to The Hague.
Yesterday, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Jaime Santiago defended Remulla yesterday over a separate complaint filed by lawyer Ferdinand Topacio over alleged illegal arrest and unlawful detention of Sheila Guo—the sister of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo and Whirlwind Corporation incorporator Cassandra Li Ong.
“It is clear harassment of our Secretary of Justice by filing that case… They really want SOJ not to have clearance from the Ombudsman. That is their real goal, to block the appointment of our Secretary of Justice,” he said in Filipino.
Under the 1987 Constitution, the Ombudsman shall be appointed by the president from a list of at least six nominees prepared by the [JBC], and from a list of three nominees for every vacancy thereafter.
The Ombudsman shall serve for a term of seven years without reappointment and shall not be qualified to run for any office in the election immediately succeeding their cessation from office.
