Aquino names ex-SC Justice Morales new Ombudsman

(Updated 5:36 p.m.) President Benigno Aquino III named retired Supreme Court Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales the new Ombudsman, replacing Merceditas Gutierrez who resigned last May days before she was expected to face an impeachment trial at the Senate. Aquino made the announcement during his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City on Monday. With Morales at the helm of the body responsible for investigating and prosecuting government officials accused of crimes, Aquino expressed hopes that charges will be filed against personalities involved in past anomalies. “Inaasahan ko nga po na sa taon na ito, masasampahan na ng kaso ang lahat ng nagkuntsabahan sa katiwalian, at naging sanhi ng situwasyong ating inabutan," Aquino said in a 53-minute speech in Filipino interrupted by applause 48 times. The loudest and longest applause was when he announced Morales' appointment. Morales stood up to acknowledge the crowd's reaction. Aquino also vowed that the government will file stronger cases against corrupt officials. “Tapos na rin po ang panahon kung kailan nagsasampa ang gobyerno ng malalabnaw na kaso. Kapag tayo ang nagsampa, matibay ang ebidensya, malinaw ang testimonya, at siguradong walang lusot ang salarin." Aquino said the fight against corruption does not end with the filing of charges, but with prosecution. “Tutok tayo na ang pagkakamit ng ganap na katarungan ay hindi natatapos sa pagsasakdal kundi sa pagkukulong ng maysala," he said. Echoing the folksy wang-wang theme of his inaugural address, Aquino extended the metaphor in his second State of the Nation Address to highlight his achievements in fighting corruption, resulting in greater business confidence and fewer hungry people. “Ang aking pahiwatig sa lahat ng gusto pang ilihis tayo rito: Kung mang-aagrabyado ka lang ng mahirap, huwag ka nang magtangka," Aquino declared. “Kung sarili mo lang ang papayamanin mo, huwag ka nang magtangka. Kung hindi iyan para sa Pilipino, huwag ka nang magtangka." But he also sounded the siren on private citizens not paying their share in taxes. "Nakikita naman po ninyong napupunta na sa tama ang buwis ninyo, kaya wala na pong dahilan upang iwasan natin ang pagbabayad," he appealed. Morales known dissenter during Arroyo administration Shortly after Gutierrez resigned as Ombudsman, talk was already rife that Aquino had offered the post to Morales, who was then about to retire from the Supreme Court. Morales formally hung up her robes last June 19. Gutierrez was accused of betrayal of public trust for her alleged inaction on graft controversies during the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, to whom she is reportedly close. While serving at the high court, Morales was known to have dissented on cases decided in favor of Arroyo during her presidency. Such a voting pattern prompted Arroyo, now a congresswoman in Pampanga, to file with the Judicial and Bar Council an opposition to Morales' Ombudsman bid. With seven oppositions, Morales was the most opposed among the 26 Ombudsman candidates. Despite this, the retired SC justice managed to receive five votes from the eight-member JBC, making her one of the four aspirants short-listed to become the next Ombudsman. Vow of independence When she was being screened by the JBC, Morales addressed allegations that she voted consistently against the Arroyo administration. "I am not the right person to comment on my independence, but I think my decisions speak for themselves. Whoever says I am not independent, he or she is entitled [to say it]," she said in her public interview with the council. Morales likewise cited a 2008 survey conducted by investigative news organization Newsbreak which had looked into the voting patterns of Supreme Court justices at that time. The Newsbreak survey showed that in cases where the Arroyo administration had high stakes, Morales had voted in favor of the Arroyo administration in 10 decisions, and against in 11 decisions. In the JBC interview, Morales said: “The fact remains that in a survey in 2008, my voting for or against cases against the [Arroyo] administration was apparently equal. So I leave it at that." In March 2010, Morales was the lone dissenter when the majority of the SC justices voted to allow then President Arroyo to appoint the next chief justice during the elections appointment ban from March to June 2010. Arroyo eventually appointed Renato Corona to be the successor of then retiring chief magistrate Reynato Puno. In December last year, Morales also joined the minority who voted to uphold the legality of Aquino's Executive Order No. 1, which created the Truth Commission that would have investigated corruption allegations against Arroyo. The SC majority, however, ruled that EO 1 is unconstitutional. It was Morales who penned the Feb. 15, 2011 decision that gave the House justice committee the green light to resume the impeachment proceedings against then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. The House panel eventually impeached Gutierrez in April for allegedly sitting on cases filed against perceived Arroyo cronies, paving the way for an impeachment trial at the Senate. Favored one? Morales’ supposed pattern of dissent against Arroyo and her allies made her Aquino's top pick as Gutierrez's replacement. It was Morales who administered Aquino’s oath when he was inaugurated President in June 2010, but in the JBC interview, Morales addressed the issue of her independence in the light of her alleged closeness with Aquino. “I don’t know why I am being associated with President Aquino. I have not met him before he wrote me a letter asking me to administer his oath. I read in the papers that he wants me but I kept silent because that’s hearsay. When he finally wrote me, that’s the first time he wrote me. That’s the first communication with him in writing. And I never communicated with him verbally, so I don’t think association [with Aquino] would be material to their opposition," Morales said. Speaking to reporters after the JBC interview, Morales said Aquino had “never" offered her the position, belying reports that the President personally asked her if she wanted to be named Ombudsman. Legal career A native of Paoay, Ilocos Norte, Morales has been in the legal profession for more than 40 years, the last 28 of which were spent in the judiciary. Morales graduated from the University of the Philippines in 1964 with a degree in Economics. Four years later, she earned her law degree from the same university. After passing the Bar examinations in 1969, Morales worked in private practice first. Two years later, she went to the Department of Justice to serve as special assistant to then-Justice Secretary Vicente Abad Santos. In 1976, she was appointed as State Counsel and was promoted as Senior State Counsel five years later. In 1983, then President Ferdinand Marcos appointed her as presiding judge of the Pili Regional Trial Court in Camarines Sur. When Marcos was replaced by Aquino's mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, Morales was appointed presiding judge of the Pasay City RTC. Cory Aquino's successor, Fidel Ramos, then appointed Morales to the Court of Appeals in 1994. Eight years later, in 2002, Morales was named to the Supreme Court by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The lady justice is one of Arroyo's first appointees to the high court, the first being Antonio Carpio, Morales' cousin. Pro-people Ombudsman Malacañang, meanwhile, said Morales' appointment is consistent with the policy of the Aquino government that the Ombudsman should act for and in the interest of the Filipino people. "We have consistently emphasized the need to have an Ombudsman… who shall not let Garcias and Bolantes go scotfree without answering to the people," presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a press statement. He was referring to former military comptroller Carlos Garcia and former Agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante, who are both accused of committing massive graft during the Arroyo administration. Lacierda added that Morales' integrity and impartiality are evident from her years as presiding judge of the Court of Appeals and associate justice of the Supreme Court. "We wish Ombudsman Carpio-Morales luck, and we are confident that she will not fail to be what our people expect – a true Tanod ng Bayan," he said.- with Amita O. Legaspi/KBK/HS, GMA News