Teresita De Castro declines ombudsman nomination

MANILA, Philippines — Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro has declined her nomination for the ombudsman post to be vacated by Conchita Carpio-Morales in July.

In a one-page letter to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) yesterday, she opted not to accept the recommendation of retired Associate Justice Arturo Brion.

“Although I am deeply moved by, and sincerely thankful for, Justice Brion’s kind endorsement, I regret that I must decline his recommendation as I wish to continue serving the Supreme Court until I reach the compulsory retirement age,” De Castro explained in the letter obtained by The STAR.

She is set to retire from the Supreme Court (SC) this October.

De Castro also expressed hopes that the JBC would be successful in its search for worthy nominees.

House majority leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas and Solicitor General Jose Calida also did not accept their respective nominations for the post.

At the end of the nomination and application period yesterday, the candidates for the ombudsman position are Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Special Prosecutor and former Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Edilberto Sandoval, Davao City regional trial court judges Carlos Espero II and Rowen Apao-Adlawan, President Duterte’s lawyer Edna Batacan and Duterte’s law school classmate Rex Rico.

Morales, 76, is also a retired SC justice who was appointed by former president Benigno Aquino III as ombudsman in 2011.

She replaced Merceditas Gutierrez, who resigned on May 6, 2011 to avoid an impeachment trial at the Senate, leaving an unexpired term until Nov. 30, 2012.

In summer session last month, the SC dismissed petitions seeking to remove Morales from her post for alleged overstaying.

Justices voted unanimously to dismiss the petitions filed last year by former Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) general manager Al Vitangcol and lawyer Rey Nathaniel Ifurung for lack of merit.

The high court found no basis in the prayer of petitioners to declare that the term of office of Morales had expired on Nov. 30, 2012.

It held that Article XI Section 11 of the Constitution, Sections 7 and 8(3) of Republic Act 6770 provide for a full term of seven years for the ombudsman.