New deputy Ombudsman for Visayas assumes office

CEBU, Philippines - Lawyer Paul Elmer Clemente yesterday assumed office as the new Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas, replacing lawyer Pelagio Apostol.

Clemente arrived at 8 a.m. at the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas. He was welcomed by the officials and staffs.  

Before he assumed office, Clemente took an oath before Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on November 6, 2014. 

Clemente was appointed by President Benigno Aquino III out of five nominees endorsed by the Judicial and Bar Council.

Clemente, former acting director of the Register of Deeds, joined the Office of the Ombudsman in 1995 as graft investigation 1 in the Office of the Chief Legal Counsel.

According to the press release published in the website of the Office of the Ombudsman, Clemente served as OCLC director and acting assistant ombudsman until his resignation in 2006.

In 2012, Clemente rejoined the Office of the Ombudsman and was appointed as graft investigation and prosecution officer II assigned at the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon.

Clemente got his degrees for his Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of the Philippines.

The names JBC endorsed aside from Clemente, were acting director of the Ombudsman-Visayas’ Public Assistance and Corruption Office Carla Juris Narvios-Tanco, former Cebu City Regional Trial Court presiding judge and current Supreme Court deputy clerk of court and judicial reform program administrator Geraldine Faith A. Econg, Commission on Audit Chief Executive Staff Gilbert Kintanar, and Presidential Commission on Good Government Commissioner Vicente Gengos Jr.

Apostol ended his seven-year term on August 21, 2014. He was appointed as Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas on July 19, 2007.

Under the law, the president has 90 days from the retirement of deputy ombudsman to appoint a replacement.

Also yesterday, Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao Rodolfo Elman, who served as acting deputy ombudsman for the Visayas, turned over the position to Clemente.

After the turnover ceremony, Clemente conducted a meeting with the officials and staffs and visited the different departments of the anti-graft office. —(FREEMAN)