Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Geraldine Faith A. Econg has 12 more years to serve in the judiciary and has a chance to be elevated to the Supreme Court (SC), the highest court of the land.

But why did Justice Econg apply to be Ombudsman, the post that will be vacated on July 27 by Ombudsman Samuel R. Martires?

Her answer: “To become Ombudsman is my dream.”

"We have dreams and it's my way of reaching my dream to serve more people and to work for the good of our country," she told journalists during an interview at the Sandiganbayan building in Quezon City on Friday, July 11.

While she still has 12 more years in the judiciary, Econg said she is not after the length of service. “It is the meaning and value of service,” she said. The Ombudsman has a fixed term of seven years.

She also said she does not see the application for Ombudsman as a downgrade since the positions are linear. The position of the Ombudsman is the same rank as the presiding justice of the Sandiganbayan with the same salary grade, she added.

Econg cited that Sandiganbayan's Associate Justice Michael Frederick L. Musngi also applied for the position of Ombudsman.

"The functions of the Office of the Ombudsman are not strange to us and that's why we did apply. The prosecutors are from the Ombudsman and most of our cases are from the Ombudsman," she added.

The only difference, she pointed out, is that being the Ombudsman means she will be able to "crack your head in order to bring better service to the Philippines."

Econg was a regional trial court judge and was appointed Sandiganbayan associate justice in 2016 before she became the presiding justice of the anti-graft court on Jan. 7, 2025.

Aside from Econg and Musngi, the other applicants to the Ombudsman post are Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, SC Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan, retired SC Associate Justice Mario Lopez, Court of Appeals (CA) Associate Justice Bautista Gler Corpin Jr., retired CA Associate Justice and incumbent Philippine Postal Corporation Chairman Stephen Cruz, Albay Municipal Trial Court Judge Jason Rodenas, retired Laoag City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Benjamin Turgano, Bureau of Internal Revenue commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares, former Commission on Audit chairman and incumbent Philippine Competition Commission chairman Michael Aguinaldo, Commission on Human Rights Commissioner Beda Epres, Deputy Executive Secretary Lisa Logan, Department of the Interior and Local Government Undersecretary for External, Legal and Legislative Affairs Romeo Benitez, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office chairman and retired Marikina RTC Judge Felix Reyes, PDP Laban secretary-general Melvin Matibag, and Jonie Caroche, a member of the Philippine National Police-Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group.

The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) was created in 1989 under Republic Act No. 6770.

Under RA 6770, among the OMB’s functions are “to investigate and prosecute on its own or on complaint by any person, any act or omission of any public officer or employee, office or agency, when such act or omission appears to be illegal, unjust, improper or inefficient.”

The OMB “has primary jurisdiction over cases cognizable by the Sandiganbayan and, in the exercise of his primary jurisdiction, it may take over, at any stage, from any investigatory agency of government, the investigation of such cases under Section 15(1) RA 6770 and Section 13(1), Article XI, of the Constitution.”