Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla, who was appointed Ombudsman by President Marcos today, Oct. 7, said he will assume his new post on Friday, Oct. 10.
Remulla said that upon his assumption as Ombudsman, Undersecretary Fredderick A. Vida will assume the post of officer-in-charge or acting secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Vida is currently the DOJ undersecretary in-charge of finance, administrative service, and personnel cluster.
“I want to see how it (the Office of the Ombudsman) runs right now, its caseload. I want to see the caseload of the Sandiganbayan, kung gaano kabigat para ma-estima natin kung paano tayo gagalaw rito (how heavy is the caseload so we can estimate what we should do),” Remulla also said.
At the same time, Remulla said that during his talk with the President, DOJ Undersecretary Vida will be sitting as acting secretary of officer-in-charge.
Amid accusations that he will use his Ombudsman post to run after the family of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte and his allies, Remulla said: “it will not be weaponized.”
“Sisiguraduhin ko sa lahat ‘yan. Wala itong sisinuhin. Ang trabaho ng Ombudsman ay para sa buong Pilipinas (I will ensure that. It will not favor anyone. The work of the Ombudsman is for the country),” he pointed out.
As Ombudsman, he assured to implement “transparency and a lot of action.”
“Gusto kong malaman ng taong bayan ang ginagawa ng Ombudsman (I want the people to know what the Ombudsman is doing),” he also said.
He added that he intends to expedite the resolution of cases and implement continuous trial of cases.
“Makikipagdialogue ako d’yan sa Sandiganbayan para magkasundo naman sa bagay na ito (I will hold a dialogue with the Sandiganbayan so that we can have an agreement on this matter),” he said.
He observed that delaying tactics have been used in order to dismiss cases on the basis of the denial of the constitutional right to speedy trial.
While leaving the DOJ, Remulla expressed confidence that he has nothing to worry about the agency. “I think we are in the right direction. So, they should carry on,” he said.