(Eagle News)—President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed a new Ombudsman.
The President said on Thursday, July 26, that he has signed the appointment papers of Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Martires, who succeeded Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales who retired on the same day.
“He is bright and he is a fair man,” the President said.
The President also refused to give Martires any marching order, noting that the former SC associate justice “belong(ed) to a different department.”
Martires is a graduate of San Beda College of Law.
Prior to being appointed by President Duterte to thr SC in 2017, he was a Sandiganbayan judge and a regional trial court judge.
Earlier, the SC recommended Martires to the Ombudsman post, obtaining 11 votes of the 12 justices who were present (Martires did not vote).