November 30, 2005 · Posted in: Governance, In the News
First female Ombudsman named
PRESIDENT Arroyo named today her chief legal counsel, Merceditas Navarro-Gutierrez, as the new Ombudsman despite concerns earlier raised over the latter’s close ties to the First Family.
Gutierrez, 56, and Arroyo’s husband were classmates at the Ateneo Law School.
Gutierrez, the first female Ombudsman, replaces Simeon Marcelo, whose resignation took effect today. The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) unanimously voted for her appointment.
The Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN) congratulated Gutierrez on her appointment but expressed concern over what it said was the haste with which the JBC picked the new ombudsman and the council’s closed-door deliberations and voting on the short-listed candidates.
TAN, a coalition of 25 organizations working to reduce corruption in the country, launched the Ombudsman Appointment Watch after Marcelo tendered his irrevocable resignation last Sept. 30 for health reasons.
TAN Chairman Vincent Lazatin said the JBC failed to give interested parties sufficient time to submit nominations and the public to comment on the applicants.
The council gave the public 10 working days to nominate names and another 10 working days to come up with their comments on the applications. “Ideally, we’d need several weeks to submit and nominate names,” Lazatin said.
“The problem with the process is it evolved when there were a lot of holidays. What seemed to be two calendar weeks were just six to five working days,” he added.
On Oct. 14, TAN wrote the council seeking an extension of the Oct. 15 deadline for the submission of nominations. On Oct. 25, the JBC announced it was extending the deadline to Oct. 31, or by four days.
Because of the hasty process, Lazatin said the search process yielded only 14 applicants, compared to the 44 names that were nominated to replace Aniano Desierto when he retired as Ombudsman in 2002. “You have fewer people to consider,” he said.
Lazatin said TAN believes that the JBC’s deliberations on the short-listed candidates ought to have been made public. “How each voted and how they valuated each candidate on the criteria should be a matter of public information,” he said.
TAN asked the council last week for the transcripts and other records of the meeting, but has received no reply. “Unless we open up the process and understand and how the short list was created, it will cast doubt not only on Gutierrez but on all those on the short list,” Lazatin said.
He said, however, the JBC considered some of the questions TAN had suggested to be asked of the candidates, including those related to the competence of certain applicants and the reforms they would institute at the Office of the Ombudsman.
Lazatin said Gutierrez should make a statement soon on the ongoing reforms that Marcelo had put in place, such as the training of prosecutors and investigators being funded by the European Union.
He also said TAN would like to know what Gutierrez’s priority cases would be. Marcelo had identified 50 such cases, including the plunder case against former president Joseph Estrada and the bribery case against former Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, under whom Gutierrez had served as undersecretary.
Lazatin’s advice to Gutierrez: “Act independently and build the public trust and confidence that Marcelo had earned.”
Gutierrez is a career justice official, having logged over 20 years of service at the Department of Justice, most recently as acting secretary from December 2003 to August 2004. She obtained a postgraduate diploma in International Law and Development from the Institute of Social Studies, the Hague, Netherlands. She was appointed chief presidential legal counsel on Sept. 1, 2004.
16 Responses to First female Ombudsman named
ronin
November 30th, 2005 at 10:39 pm
Ginagago talaga ang sambayanan. Disgusting.
Toro
November 30th, 2005 at 11:49 pm
Ronin, would you care to elaborate on that please?
ronin
December 1st, 2005 at 3:16 am
Toro:
PRESIDENT Arroyo named today HER CHIEF LEGAL COUNSEL, Merceditas Navarro-Gutierrez, as the new OMBUDSMAN despite concerns earlier raised over the latter’s CLOSE TIES TO THE FIRST FAMILY.
Gutierrez, 56, and ARROYO’S HUSBAND were CLASSMATES at the Ateneo Law School.
batong-buhay
December 1st, 2005 at 5:10 am
Hindi na dapat pagtakahan ang appointment na ito dahil mula’t sapul pa siya ay isang masunuring tuta na tango lang ng tango sa kanyang amo. Bukod pa rito ka-klase pa siyang dati ni FG. Anong malay natin baka sila pa ay nagko-kopyahan noong araw kaya hanggang ngayon ay dala nila ang naturalesa ng pandaraya at panloloko. Sa akin ding pakiwari ang kanyang pinalitan na si Simeon Marcelo ay na-konsensiya na lang dahil hindi na niya siguro masikmura ang mga pinagagawa sa kanya. Kaya hayun, nagsakit-sakitan na lang ang pobre at nag-resign. Pag binangga mo kasi si GMA ay para ka na ring bumangga kay kamatayan at ito ay naipakita na sa maraming pagkakataon. Hindi ba natin napapansin na ang tatlong sangay ng pamahalaan ay kontrolado niya? Ang executive, legislative at judiciary. Pati na ang media na tinaguriang fourth estate ay gusto pa niyang busalan. Kung mangyari ito, kanino ka pa tatakbo Juan dela Cruz? Nami-miss kita Teddy Man Benigno.
Toro
December 1st, 2005 at 6:22 am
Thanks Ronin. I think I will reserve my comments on her for the sake of fair play until I see how she performs as Ombudsman. I want to believe that those who have maintained a good record in the performance of their duty will preserve their integrity.
tomas tinio
December 1st, 2005 at 6:45 am
Katulad ni Toro, I will reserve judgment on this new Ombudsman. Kaya lang, for such a sensitive position like this, wala ba namang ibang qualified na walang bahid ng lack of independence from GMA? Dahil sa performance record ng mga appointees/kakampi ni GMA, nakakasuspetsa itong latest na appointment as Ombudsman.
baycas
December 1st, 2005 at 8:54 am
from garci now comes mercy…
i just hope the new ombudsman (aptly ombudslady, ombudswoman or ombudsperson?) live up to her office’s calling and badge as “Protector of the People” or as a citizen’s representative.
Toro
December 1st, 2005 at 9:07 am
Tomas, sa akin lang, lagi kong pinaaalala kila Francis Escudero at Peter Cayetano ang kanilang pangako na magsasampa ng kaso laban kay Gloria sa sandaling bumaba siya bilang pangulo.
Kung kaya para sa akin malaki ang significance ng appointment ni Gutierrez bilang bagong Ombudsman. Preparacion na kaya ito kung sakaling sampahan nga ng kaso si Gloria sa Ombudsman? O sinoman sa mga taong malapit sa kanya gaya ni FG.
Dito natin masusubukan ang galing at tibay ng integridad ng bagong Ombudsman kung kaya niyang husgahan ang mga taong naglagay sa kanya sa pwesto. This is what I mean by reserving my judgment on the new Ombudsman for later.
manuelbuencamino
December 1st, 2005 at 11:51 am
During the counting of votes last election, Merceditas Gutierrez, then acting Justice Secretary, scared a TV station into stopping its independent tabulation by issuing a warning that competing tabulations “may endanger public order or cause damage to the interest or credit of the State, which this Department has the legal duty to address.”
Now that we know about the Hello Garci tapes, was Merceditas addressing her legal duty then?
If she didn’t know the pre-ordained outcome of the election at the time she made her threats how could she possibly accuse competing tabulations of endangering public order etc.?
The most generous conclusion one can draw about her actions then is that she was just trying to suppress anything unfavorable to her patroness.
I am afraid Merceditas Gutierrez is to Gloria Arroyo what Aniano Desierto was to Ramos. An after immunity insurance policy.
jr_lad
December 1st, 2005 at 12:45 pm
again, that witty lady up there. she can’t seem to avoid controversial and suspicious decisions considering that gutierrez is her chief legal counsel and even the assistant of perez before notwithstanding from being a former classmate of big m. will she investigate fairly nannie (her former boss) and later on glue-ria? maybe yes, may be no. but why can’t glue-ria avoid these controversial and suspect decisions anyway? it’s like the moth drawing itself into the fire. it happened with garci and barcelona before (taking advantage of the house break). and her opponents were proven right. with glue-ria, there is always an ulterior motive. abangan ang susunod na kabanata.
kapatiran
December 1st, 2005 at 9:10 pm
Sinong gusto nyo? Si Atty. Chiz Escudero? Si Atty. Aquilino Pimentel? Si Atty. Franklin Drilon? Si Atty. Frank Chavez? harharhar!!!
eyesWideopen2
December 1st, 2005 at 10:24 pm
ang gusto ko ay yong hindi magnanakaw ng boto, hindi sinungaling, at hindi pinapaikot ang ulo ng mga pilipino, hindi winawaldas ang perang nabawi sa mga markos, hindi gumagawa ng tulay sa gitna ng palayan, hindi tinatago ang katotohanan.
harharhar!
manuelbuencamino
December 2nd, 2005 at 12:02 am
kapatiran,
hanggang dito ba sa ombudsman susubukan ninyo yang “who’s your alternative” argument? Aba, eh wala ng kapatid-patid yan linyang yan.
Once upon a time someone told Gloria dapat hiwalayan na niya si Mike.
Ang knee jerk reaction nung mga sipsip na nakadinig – “Who’s your alternative ? Nanny Perez? Willy Villarama? ”
Napashut-up lang sila nung bigla silang tinadyakan ni Gloria.
naykika
December 2nd, 2005 at 10:29 pm
Miss Guitierrez as an Ombudsperson(Ombudsman) should end all her loyalty to whoever appointed her and to all political connections and begins her loyalty to the office. The way I understand it, the Ombudsman work as some kind of a neutral arbiter to a feud. Or to make it simple as a guard dog to those who wants to sneak in and do some naughty stuff. Am I right? And with all her academic credentials and accomplishments before this posting, all she needs is be honest with herself and everything will be fine.
What I suggest very strongly is not to worry about the connections of Miss Guitierrez to the political masters, but for everyone to start the process of maturing and work for that elusive “thing” we have been searching so long in our system of government. We found it here long, long time ago in Canada.
bukolitos
December 3rd, 2005 at 4:36 am
Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt. If in a year, wala siyang sinampahan ng kaso among the high profile case that has been pending at her office, then she should be made to explain. Marami naman kaalyado si GMA that are independent minded.
INSIDE PCIJ: Stories behind our stories » From Congress to the Executive: Cabinet reshuffle continues
February 7th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
[…] Malacañang also announced yesterday the appointment of former Western Samar Rep. Antonio Nachura as chief presidential legal counsel. Nachura was president Arroyo’s "resource person" in the impeachment process against her that ended in September. He replaces Merceditas Gutierrez, who was named Ombudsman in November last year. […]