LP hopes new Ombudsman will not be ‘a tool of anyone’ – Pangilinan

With the appointment of Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Samuel Martires as the new Ombudsman, the Liberal Party (LP) is hoping that the anti-corruption office under his new leadership will not be “a tool of anyone.”

LP president and Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said they trust Martires will be “at the helm of an honest-to-goodness anti-corruption office that will not condone abuses and corruption of public officials, both allies and critics of the administration.

“We hope Ombudsman Martires will not be a tool of anyone, and will go after corrupt officials by building a strong case backed by evidence,” Pangilinan said in a statement on Friday.

Martires was Duterte’s first appointee to the SC. He was appointed as the SC’s new Associate Justice in March 2017.

Prior to his short stint at the SC, he had served as Sandiganbayan Associate Justice. He was appointed to the Sandigan in October 2005 by former President and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.  /muf