Ex-lawyers of Duterte, son Paolo assert judicial independence in ombudsman application
MANILA, Philippines — Two private lawyers who served as counsels to President Rodrigo Duterte and his son, former Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, have applied to become the next ombudsman.
On Wednesday, lawyers Edna Herrera-Batacan and Rainier Madrid faced the Judicial and Bar Council for a public interview on the post.
Among the issues asked to them are their relations to the first family and their judicial independence.
READ: High-profile cases for the next ombudsman
Edna Herrera-Batacan
Batacan served as legal counsel to the president in a graft case in 2010, while Madrid was the younger Duterte’s lawyer when he faced the Senate for a probe into the P6.4-billion shabu shipment case.
Batacan admitted that she maintains a “close relationship” with the president “because he has been not only my client but also the godfather of my eldest daughter.”
She also insisted that Duterte will not interfere with her work, should she be appointed as ombudsman. “I think he won’t be interfering in my job because I know him personally,” she added.
Batacan was also the lawyer of former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo in the controversial ZTE national broadband network deal at the Sandiganbayan.
But she said that she has no connection with the former first gentleman now.
Rainier Madrid
Madrid flanked the younger Duterte when he faced the Senate panel during its legislative probe into the P6.4-billion shabu shipment that slipped past the Bureau of Customs in 2016.
Paolo was accused of being part of a Chinese triad involved in the smuggling of illegal drugs.
While the Office of the Ombudsman earlier cleared Paolo from the shabu shipment case, outgoing Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said that her office is looking into the presidential son’s wealth declaration documents.
Facing the panel, Madrid clarified that he is not the lawyer of Paolo in his pending case at the Ombudsman.
Should he be appointed and a probe into Paolo be conducted, he said: “I will leave it as it is. Complete inhibition is the safest tack.”
Madrid also said that he made his application on his own.
The public interview is ongoing as of this posting.
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