Ombudsman post: Bello disqualified

MANILA, Philippines — Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III cannot be appointed or even nominated to the post of ombudsman because of the pending criminal and administrative charges he is facing before the anti-graft agency.

Based on the rules of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), those with pending cases are disqualified from nomination or appointment to the post.

Section 5 of Rule 4 on integrity states that those “with pending criminal or regular administrative cases” are disqualified “from being nominated for appointment to any judicial post or as Ombudsman or Deputy Ombudsman.”

 STAR sources said Bello has a pending criminal case for graft and a pending administrative case for misconduct docketed in 2017 that are undergoing preliminary investigation and administrative adjudication, which is why he has not been issued an ombudsman clearance.

The details as to what the pending cases are about and who filed the charges are, however, being withheld since such information is revealed only to those who are parties to the cases.

Sources noted that in 2011, the JBC automatically disqualified five aspirants to the ombudsman post because of pending cases against them.

Two of those who suffered disqualification and were not even interviewed anymore were then acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro and Deputy Ombudsman for Visayas Pelagio Apostol.

Ten aspirants, one woman and nine men, are currently vying to become the country’s next graftbuster as Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales retires next month after a seven-year term.

Those gunning for the position include Bello, lawyer Edna Herrera-Batacan, Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Martires, Sandiganbayan Justice Efren dela Cruz, Special Prosecutor Edilberto Sandoval, Judge Carlos Espero II, and lawyers Rey Nathaniel Ifufurung, Rainier Madrid, Felito Ramirez and Rex Rico.

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