DAVAO CITY (July 21) — Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Samuel Martires is the top choice of the Judicial Bar Council (JBC) to replace outgoing Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.
The members of the JBC in a meeting Friday voted the for the contenders, based on the result Martires garnered seven votes, against other contenders which include retired Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Edilberto Sandoval with five votes and private practitioner Atty. Felito Ramirez, who got four.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, an ex-officio member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), who is also one of the nominees, told reporters that Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III was disqualified from the shortlist.
Guevarra said the JBC scheduled to submit its shortlist to President Rodrigo Duterte, for him to appoint the new Ombudsman within 90 days.
Morales, 76, is set to retire in two months.
She was a retired SC Associate Justice who was appointed by former president Benigno Aquino III as Ombudsman in 2011.
Last Tuesday, Supreme Court (SC) judges unanimously endorsed Martires to the JBC.
Martires, a graduate of San Beda College of Law and a former Sandiganbayan justice, was the first appointee of Duterte to the High Court.-Jiann A. Padillo/NewsLine.ph
