MANILA, Philippines — Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, who will hang up her robes after seven years of being the country’s chief anti-corruption watchdog, wants her successor to have the same qualities she said she possesses.
“I want a man who knows what he is doing and who is also honest. It would be a waste if someone who is corrupt will replace me,” Morales said in a mix of Filipino and English Thursday in a public forum in Pasig City—one of the last events she attended before her retirement on July 26.
She added: “I say that I have honesty. Now competence, maybe the public can judge me.”
Last week, Morales hit lawyer Edna Herrera-Batacan, an ombudsman aspirant, for calling her office a “graft-ridden” agency during her interview with the Judicial and Bar Council.
Batacan, the former counsel of President Rodrigo Duterte, said that investigators in the ombudsman can be bribed to sit on cases.
In an interview with Rappler, Morales dared the applicant to present evidence of her accusations. She said she even asked one of the directors in the agency about the supposed corrupt practices and the official admitted corruption was present when Batacan was still a prosecutor under the ombudsman.
The outgoing graft buster, moreover, said that the next ombudsman must also have independence and industry.
Appeal to successor
The outgoing ombudsman also asked her successor to continue the reforms she had introduced during her stint as the top graft-buster.
“If the next leadership would not turn a cold shoulder on the existing initiatives, wheels need not to be reinvented, only improved,” she appealed.
Morales added: “We believe in the reforms that have been instituted, to see them sustain until their impact can be harnessed is a dream of this transitioning leadership.”
In her speech, Morales said the agency has secured a conviction rate in 2016 in its cases filed against erring government officials at the Sandiganbayan.
Morales also boasted the office’s Electronic Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth or the eSALN project.
Furthermore, Morales urged her replacement to create a credible and inspiring institution “so we can shift the perspective from ‘exacting accountability’ to ‘inspiring accountability.’”
“As the fifth Ombudsman, with a light heart, I am confident of the reforms and the people I will be leaving the institution with. For the incoming leadership, the only option is to take care of these people who bore much of the pain and gain of integrity work,” she said.
The JBC will vote on the shortlist of candidates to replace Morales on July 20. There are 10 aspirants for the position of the country’s next chief graft buster.
Aside from Batacan, the aspirants are the following:
- Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III
- Sandiganbayan Justice Efren de la Cruz
- Davao City judge Carlos Espero II
- Lawyer Rey Nathaniel Ifurung
- Lawyer Rainier Madrid
- Associate Justice Samuel Martires
- Lawyer Felito Ramirez
- Lawyer Rex Rico
- Ombudsman Special Prosecutor Edilberto Sandoval
READ: How the applicants for ombudsman stand on issues