By Czarina Nicole Ong and the Philippine News Agency
Retired Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Samuel Martires took his oath as the new Ombudsman before Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio at the High Court's session hall on Monday.
Ombudsman Samuel Martires
Martires, accompanied by his wife Cecilia, said he will prioritize the resolution of pending cases, address inordinate delays, and probe alleged corruption at the anti-graft office.
Martires also said that he will bow down to the order of Malacañang in the case of Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang.
Malacañang ordered Carandang’s dismissal last July 30 over his disclosure of President Duterte's bank transactions without the authority of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) last year.
The decision stemmed from the administrative complaints separately filed in October last by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) and Labor Undersecretary Jacinto Paras and former Biliran Representative Glenn Chong.
“I have no choice, but it will depend on ODO,” Martires told reporters after his oath-taking ceremony before the Supreme Court on Monday morning. "I don’t think he’s that hard headed, I see him as a very reasonable guy, I knew him since I was in the Sandiganbayan, I think ODO Carandang will just follow what the law provides.”
But if Carandang decides to file a motion for reconsideration before the Court of Appeals (CA) regarding his dismissal, Martires said he will wait until that motion is resolved by Malacañang.
“I think ODO Carandang still has 15 days to file his motion for reconsideration. I have to wait for that until such time that Malacañang denies that motion for reconsideration, shall I cross the bridge,” he said.
Carandang had said that the AMLC shared with them Duterte's bank transactions. But the AMLC denied his claims.
Martires' predecessor, Conchita Carpio Morales, refused to acknowledge the 90-day suspension ordered by the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES) last January regarding the same issue.
She stressed that it is the Ombudsman, not the President, who can discipline the ODO.