MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Martires as the new ombudsman.
In a speech during the celebration of the “69th Araw ng Ipil” at the Ipil Municipal Plaza in Zamboanga Sibugay, Duterte said that he has “signed the appointment of Justice Martires.”
Duterte described Martires, his fellow graduate from San Beda, “bright,” “strict” and “fair man.”
He said that his marching order to Martires is: “Do what is right.”
Martires takes the position vacated by Conchita Carpio-Morales whose term as ombudsman expires on Thursday, July 26.
The justice is Duterte’s first appointee to the Supreme Court. He will reach the mandatory age of retirement for the SC next January.
Before he became an SC justice, Martires served as a Sandiganbayan justice for 11 years.
The justice received 11 votes of confidence from his colleagues at the high court.
In the Judicial and Bar Council, he received six votes and led the shortlist that included three names.
His nomination to the ombudsman post was met with opposition from a group of theology teachers.
They accused him of "faith-shaming" former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno during the oral arguments on the quo warranto petition that eventually voided her appointment.
During his public interview with the JBC, Martires denied their accusation and apologized to Sereno.
Among the high-profile cases that will be handled by Morales' successor are the continuing probe into the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam, cases related to the Mamasapano clash of 2015, case involving the wealth declaration document of presidential son Paolo Duterte and allegations of corruption at the Department of Tourism.
READ: High-profile cases for the next ombudsman