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Thursday, December 01, 2005
Palace chief legal counsel is new Ombudsman
MANILA -- Presidential legal counsel Merceditas Gutierrez was appointed Wednesday as Ombudsman by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Gutierrez, who was handpicked by President Arroyo from seven aspirants for the post vacated Wednesday by former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo, was the top pick of the eight-member Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).
Gutierrez said she is glad to be appointed Ombudsman and promised to do her best to serve the country honestly.
She asked for cooperation from fellow Filipinos and fellow workers in government.
She said she got her appointment paper Wednesday morning and was congratulated by President Arroyo during the Cabinet meeting in the afternoon.
Gutierrez said Arroyo probably took into consideration her character and performance as justice undersecretary, acting justice secretary, and chief presidential legal counsel.
Gutierrez is assured of a seven-year term (or until 2012, well over Arroyo's term) under the 1987 Constitution, and this cannot be cut short by the Chief Executive.
Attorney Ruben Fondevilla, assistant chief state counsel and long-time officemate of Gutierrez, said in their 17 years as partners at the DOJ, she has shown herself to be very competent and has maintained autonomy in coming out with her legal opinions.
Fondevilla said Gutierrez is deserving of her appointment as the country's top graft buster, regardless of her perceived close affinity with the First Family, particularly with First Gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, who was a classmate at the Ateneo Law School.
"She is very organized, very meticulous. During her term as acting justice secretary, she was very action-oriented but very low-key. She's a very independent career official. She would always remind us to take the legal route and to always let the ax fall where they may," he said.
Rising from the ranks of the justice department with numerous credentials under her cap, Gutierrez is no newcomer to controversies.
Among the more controversial cases she handled were the extradition case against former Manila Representative Mark Jimenez, "open skies" policy case faced by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), and identification of so-called Filipino comfort women who suffered from Japanese atrocities during World War 2.
Prior to her appointment as Ombudsman, Gutierrez was tapped to head the Office of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel.
Her stint at the DOJ started in 1983 as assistant state counsel. But in December 2003, she filled up the shoes of former justice secretary Simeon Datumanong who opted to resign to be able to run for a congressional post in Mindanao. The situation resulted in a terse standoff between her and then justice undersecretary Jose Calida.
In Wednesday's press briefing, the Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN) welcomed the appointment of Gutierrez as the first woman Ombudsman but expressed reservations as to whether she would be able to perform her duties without undue influence from Malacañang.
TAN executive director Vincent Lazatin said Gutierrez's credentials may be enough for her to bag the Ombudsman post but added her independence remains an issue, citing her alleged closeness with the President and the First Gentleman.
"I'm not saying that we can't trust Gutierrez. She seems to be okay, but the public perception is that she is to close to the powers that be. That might be a problem she has to contend with," Lazatin said.
Lazatin said the selection process conducted by the JBC in choosing the next Ombudsman "was quickly done" and that transparency was somehow lacking.
He noted that the JBC drew up a shortlist of candidates only a weekend after conducting the public interviews, which TAN attended. He added that the final list was not made known to their group, which has been pushing for transparency in the selection process.
"How the candidates were assessed, who in the JBC voted for whom, what criteria were used have not been explained up to now. The public was not able to participate at a certain point. What we want is an Ombudsman whose independence is unquestionable," he said. (ECV/Sunnex)
(December 1, 2005 issue)
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