DAVAO CITY (July 27)— President Rodrigo Duterte told newly appointed Ombudsman Samuel Martires to “do what is right.”
Duterte made the announcement during his speech in the 69th Araw ng Ipil, Thursday afternoon,
“I signed his appointment today and told him to do what is right,” the President said.
Martires, 69, served as trial court judge in Agoo, La Union prior to his appointment to the Sandiganbayan on October 15, 2005 by then-President
Gloria Arroyo.
It was Martires who penned the Sandiganbayan decision which approved the plea bargain deal entered into by alleged plunderer, retired Major General Carlos Garcia.
In 2011, Martires also wrote the Sandiganbayan decision that junked graft charges against then-Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte over the demolition of a park built by his political rival, then Davao City First District Congressman Prospero Nograles.
He also voted to grant the Office of the Solicitor General’s ouster case against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
Martirez replaced Conchita Carpio-Morales, who stepped down on Thursday after she completed her seven-year term as the country’s ombudsman.-ezc/NewsLine.ph
