De Lima declines ombudsman post

Manila, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima yesterday maintained she had no interest in becoming the next ombudsman.

“I already told the President that I’m declining the nomination,” De Lima said.

De Lima said she would be of better service to President Aquino if she stays put at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“I feel I could be more effective here in DOJ, which is broader in scope. I feel I can do a lot more here,” she said.

De Lima said she would send a letter to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), where she sits as a regular member, officially declining the nomination to replace former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, who resigned last week.

De Lima was nominated for Ombudsman by Assistant State Prosecutor Romeo Senson.

Senson said De Lima is most qualified to head the anti-graft agency. Senson was the prosecutor who approved the indictment of the “Morong 43” suspected to be communist rebels but whose decision De Lima reversed.

Last week, De Lima announced she is not interested in the post of Ombudsman.

“I feel it will be more fulfilling for me (to stay here),” she said.

“I’ve been here (in DOJ) for just less than a year. I’m just starting. There are many more problems, challenges to face.”

Malacañang, however, sees it the other way around – seeing De Lima as the administration’s super weapon in the war against corruption.

“I think Secretary de Lima is fit for the job. I think many of the crooks would think twice if Secretary de Lima would be appointed to the Office of the Ombudsman because of her qualifications,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.

De Lima was chair of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) before she was appointed by the President to head the DOJ.

De Lima used to be an election lawyer before she was appointed to several posts.

Since Aquino assumed office in June 2010, De Lima has been enjoying high popularity and trust ratings, emerging as the topnotcher among Cabinet members.

Valte, however, begged off from commenting whether the President would pick De Lima for the ombudsman’s job.

“That I cannot tell. I would not like to preempt (the President). I cannot say at this point,” she said.

“This is without prejudice that might arise between Secretary de Lima and the President. Because there’s a screening process at the JBC which includes interview of the nominee,” she said.

The consent of de Lima, Valte pointed out, would still be needed in the JBC proceedings, which means nothing will prosper if the prospective candidate does not want to be appointed.

Under the JBC rules, a nomination for a vacancy would only be accepted if the nominee would accept.

The eight-man council tasked to vet aspirants for the ombudsman post officially opened for applications and nominations through an announcement published in The STAR last Friday. It gave interested parties a non-extendible period of 10 days or until May 16 to submit applications and nominations.

It already received nomination for lawyer Ernesto Francisco Jr. from former Pampanga governor Eddie Panlilio.

Francisco, who was among the complainants who had filed graft charges against Jose Miguel Arroyo, the husband of former President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo, in connection to the controversial NBN - ZTE deal, accepted the nomination.

The council is set to make public the list of official candidates for the post after receiving all nominees and applicants and upon initial screening of its secretariat.

But even as de Lima reiterated that she had no interest in becoming the next ombudsman, officials and employees of the anti-graft agency expressed mixed reactions over the possibility that she might be their next chief.

While some welcomed the idea of de Lima as the next ombudsman, others reacted negatively to the prospect. De Lima was a staunch critic of resigned ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

For the rank-and-file employees, led by Eric Durano Gutierrez, president of the Ombudsman Employees Association (OMBEA), they would prefer an insider to be the next Ombudsman.

Gutierrez said they want Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro to take the post.

“He knows every square inch of the operations at the Office of the Ombudsman,” he said, adding that Casimiro has been with the anti-graft agency for more than four years.

As for de Lima, Gutierrez said “she is very popular” but he thinks it would be best to make her a commissioner of the Commission on Elections. –With Delon Porcalla, Michael Punongbayan