President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Martires as the new Ombudsman.
“We have a new Ombudsman. I signed the appointment of Justice Martires,” Duterte said in a speech during the 69th “Araw ng Ipil” in Zamboanga Sibugay on Thursday.
“He is bright and he is a fair man,” the president said.
Addressing Martires, the chief executive said, “Ang sabihin ko lang sa iyo, and this is my statement, do what is right.”
Martires, a former Sandiganbayan justice was the first appointee of the president to the Supreme Court in March 2017.
Martires was included in the three-person shortlist of nominees for the Ombudsman post, along with retired SC Presiding Justice and current Special Prosecutor Edilberto Sandoval and lawyer Felito Ramirez.
Duterte’s schoolmate
The new Ombudsman also obtained his law degree from San Beda College, the President’s alma mater.
Martires was appointed to the Sandiganbayan on October 15, 2005 by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, where he served for 12 years.
Martires also signed in 2012 an SC decision that dismissed a P50-million damage suit filed against the Marcoses, then-Trade Minister Roberto Ongpin late Armed Forces chief Fabian Ver, over the alleged Binondo Central Bank during Martial Law.
In April 2013, he drew controversy after signing the SC resolution that upheld the plea bargain agreement of then-military comptroller Major General Carlos Garcia. Under this deal, Garcia pleaded guilty to lesser bailable offenses instead of plunder.
In 2014, Martires was a part of the Sandiganbayan 3rd division that issued the warrant of arrest against former senator Juan Ponce Enrile, his former aide Gigi Reyes, and others involved in the pork barrel scam.
In December 2017, he voted in favor for martial law in Mindanao.
Earlier this year, he also voted for the ousting of former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. — — With a report from Syrah Vivien Inocencio, INQUIRER.net Intern
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