President Benigno Aquino III has appointed Gerard Mosquera, a commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, as the new Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon.

 

At a press briefing Friday, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Aquino signed the appointment of Mosquera last May 9.

 

“We have a new Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon replacing the current Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza. He is Gerard Mosquera and he took his oath before the Ombudsman (Conchita Carpio-Morales) today [Friday] at 8 a.m.,” Lacierda said.

 

It was Mosquera who garnered the most number of votes from the Judicial and Bar Council, the body screens, vets and recommends to the President nominees to vacant judicial posts.

 

He was among those shortlisted last year for the position of Ombudsman, a post that eventually went to former Supreme Court Associate Justice Carpio-Morales.

 

Mosquera is an Ateneo Law School graduate and member of the Utopia fraternity.

 

In May 2010, he received the Lucius N. Littauer Award for Academic Excellence and Leadership from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

 

The award is the highest recognition given by the Harvard Kennedy School for exemplary academic achievement, public service and leadership.

 

Mosquera holds a Masters degree in Public Administration and was at the top five percent of Harvard Kennedy School’s Class of 2010, with 577 students from 80 countries.

Anti-corruption

 

Mosquera, a native of General Santos City, made a name for himself in anti-corruption work.

 

Since 2005, he has served as Chief of Party of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)'s anti-corruption program in Timor-Leste.

 

He also served as technical adviser for anti-corruption to the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor.

 

In the Philippines, he briefly served as Director in the Office of the Ombudsman.

 

Mosquera placed second in the 1992 Bar Examinations, and holds a Masters of Law degree from Kings College London after graduating with honors from the Ateneo School of Law.

 

He once served as Integrated Bar of the Philippines chapter president for General Santos City and South Cotabato and Sarangani provinces.

 

He has four children with wife Myra. — Amita Legaspi/RSJ, GMA News