SALN Access Among Immediate Tasks of Ombudsman Remulla Following Recent Appointment
Ombudsman Remulla confirmed that his office will issue a memorandum that will lift the restrictions on the access to the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) of the government officials.
A few days ago, the Judiciary and Bar Council or JBC confirmed its submission of shortlist for the Ombudsman applicants to President Bongbong Marcos. There were seven names out of 17 applicants on the shortlist submitted to the President.
Then-Department of Justice Secretary Boying Remulla was included in the shortlist submitted by the JBC to Marcos Jr. Undeniably, many Filipinos believed that Remulla had the biggest chance to be the next chief graft-buster among the candidates.
Shortly after the JBC confirmed its submission of shortlist to the President, Malacañang announced that Pres. Bongbong Marcos has chosen Remulla to be the next Ombudsman. He took his oath of office yesterday. He succeeds former Ombudsman Samuel Martires who retired in July.
The appointment of Remulla came amid the flood control mess in the Philippines. According to the new Ombudsman, the people can expect that the legal process on the flood control issue will move fast. He stressed that their focus now is on the building of the case.
Aside from the flood control issue, the new Ombudsman also revealed that he will revisit the Pharmally case, a multi-billion issue during the Duterte administration. He stressed that the Senate had probed the issue but it did not move forward.
“We’ll look into that because it seems like it’s been forgotten, buried in oblivion. But these kinds of cases shouldn’t really be forgotten because we know the allegations have weight,” Remulla said.
Based on a post of Inquirer on social media, Ombudsman Remulla also confirmed that he will lift the restrictions on the access to the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth or SALN of the government officials. He confirmed that his office will issue a memorandum.
According to Remulla, the Office of the Ombudsman aims to issue the document “hopefully by Wednesday”. Aside from the Pharmally case and the lifting of the restrictions on the access of the SALN, Ombudsman Remulla also previously said that he will reopen and study the complaint filed against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte.