Special prosecutor applies to be the next ombudsman

MANILA, Philippines — Special Prosecutor Edilberto Sandoval has applied to become the next ombudsman.

In a tweet report by The STAR, Sandoval, a former Sandiganbayan justice, confirmed that he has applied to the position that will be vacated by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales in July.

READ: JBC opens applications, recommendations for Ombudsman, SC justice post

Sandoval was appointed as special prosecutor of the Office of the Ombudsman in July 2017, after an 11-year stint as an anti-graft court justice. The position of special prosecutor has a fixed term of seven years.

Morales’s seven-year-term will end on July 26.

Morales, 76, is a retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. She was appointed as ombudsman by former President Benigno Aquino III in 2011.

Associate Justice Teresita De Castro, meanwhile, has been nominated to the ombudsman post by retired SC justice Arturo Brion.

Special Prosecutor Edilberto Sandoval confirms that he applied for the Ombudsman post to be vacated by Conchita Carpio-Morales in July. Sandoval is a former Sandiganbayan justice. | @marcelo_beth

— The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) May 9, 2018

Brion cited De Castro’s 45-year career in government as grounds for her nomination as the next ombudsman.

“Through all these years, she has served the government with competence, probity and integrity,” Brion stressed in his two-page letter.

“Her long years in the prosecutorial service (almost 19 years) and in the Sandiganbayan (more than 10 years), not to mention her more than a decade of experience as an associate justice of the Supreme Court qualify her for the position of Ombudsman,” he added.

De Castro has yet to accept the nomination.

READ: De Castro nominated as ombudsman

The SC justice made the headlines in the past few months due heated exchanges with Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who is facing two ouster petitions: An impeachment case at the Congress, and a quo warranto petition at the SC.

The Judicial and Bar Council extended its deadline for application for the Ombudsman post until May 15.