Rep. Gloria Arroyo fears Morales’ appointment as next Ombudsman
With the new Ombudsman expected to make her a “principal target,” former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has lodged with the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) her opposition to the bid of a Supreme Court magistrate to be the next Ombudsman.
“If appointed Ombudsman, I sincerely believe that Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales would not have the required ‘independence’ and impartiality in resolving cases involving me and my immediate family,” said Arroyo in a letter to the JBC dated June 6.
She said the JBC, which will recommend three candidates for the post to the President, should have “no difficulty” in choosing applicants who have “probity and independence” to act on cases brought before the Ombudsman.
Morales is set to retire on June 19 and is one of 27 candidates for the post vacated by Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez who resigned just before the Senate was to have started her impeachment trial.
Morales is a cousin of Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, a founding partner of an influential law partnership dubbed “The Firm”, which used to be the legal counsel of Arroyo and her family until they had a falling out shortly after the “Hello Garci” scandal.
In her letter, Arroyo said that she would be the “principal target” of complaints which would be filed before the Ombudsman, “taking into account all relevant circumstances, including the campaign promises of President Aquino, the creation of the Truth Commission under Executive Order No. 1, and the effort to remove Ombudsman Merceditas Guttierrez which was only aborted because of her resignation”.
She said Morales had “consistently voted” against the high court’s rulings favorable to her administration while supporting decisions “involving efforts to investigate graft and corruption cases committed” during her tenure.
“While her views did not generally prevail because the Supreme Court is a collegiate court of a Chief Justice and 14 Associate Justices, the Ombudsman would be acting alone in the performance of her responsibilities,” she said.
Another Arroyo ally, former Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, separately registered his opposition to the applications of Morales and lawyer Francisco Chavez, a former solicitor general.
Gonzalez said Morales and Chavez failed to measure up to the Constitution’s requirement for the Ombudsman to be “a person of probity and independence,” saying Morales “has shown bias” against Arroyo and those close to her.
As for Chavez, Gonzalez said that he investigated him for buying firearms using public funds for his own personal use during the presidency of the late Corazon Aquino.
He also claimed that Chavez was facing disbarment cases before the Commission on Bar Discipline of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines which “should make him unfit to become the next Ombudsman whose probity, integrity and morality must be beyond question.”
Midas Marquez, Supreme Court spokesman and administrator, said the JBC may decide to bring up Arroyo and Gonzalez’s letters during the public interview for applicants for the Ombudsman post from June 22 to 29.
