THREE weeks before Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol retires, the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) announced the names of the nine applicantts for the post.
The list includes former Cebu City Regional Trial Court Judge Geraldine Faith Econg who heads the Supreme Court Project Management Office, Acting Director Carla Juris Narvios Tanco of the Ombudsman Visayas Public Assistance and Corruption Prevention Office, Commission on Audit chief executive staff Gilbert Kintanar and Commissioner Jennifer Manalili of the Professional Regulations Commission.
Also on the list are Vicente Gengos Jr,, commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, Acting Director Paul Elmer Clemente of the Register of Deeds, Jose Vicente Opinion, member of the board of governors of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines in Eastern Visayas, Mary Susan Guillermo, director of the Ombudsman’s Preliminary Investigation and Administrative Adjudication Bureau and graft investigator Roque Damian Dator.
The JBC will select six applicants then trim the number to three nominees for President Benigno Aquino III to select from. Apostol retires on Aug. 20.
Under the Constitution, a Deputy Ombudsman must be a natural born citizen of the Philippines, at least 40 yearfs old, a member of the Philippine Bar for at least 10 years and must not be a candidate for any elective office in the most recent elections.
Probity
A deputy Ombudsman, whose rank is equivalent to a member of the constitutional commission, has a fixed term of seven years without reappointment. He or she receives an P85,000 monthly salary.
Apostol said he had no political backer when he applied for the post seven years ago and was appointed by then president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
“What is necessary is for an applicant to have a proven probity and independence because the Ombudsman is an independent body. Even the president can’t dictate us,” Apostol said.
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