Ombudsman spox: Almost all of last-minute hires, promoted execs submitted courtesy resignations

Almost all of the last minute hires and promoted officials during the last three months of the term of former Ombudsman Samuel Martires have tendered their courtesy resignations, Assistant Ombudsman and Ombudsman's office spokesperson Mico Clavano said Monday.

Clavano was referring to Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla’s order for 204 individuals, especially the 99 of them who are under Salary Grade 25 and above, to tender courtesy resignations as a show of good faith and loyalty to the Ombudsman’s office.

“We're actually very happy to announce that almost all of the employees who were asked to file a courtesy resignation actually filed courtesy resignations with our HR (human resources) department here in the Office of the Ombudsman. We see this as a show of good faith from everybody, and a trust…a sign of trust in the new Ombudsman and his administration,” Clavano said.

Clavano then said that the Ombudsman's office will evaluate these hirings and promotions and come up with a decision as soon as possible to ensure that the office has enough manpower to carry out its mandate to prosecute corrupt public officials and their cohorts.

“What we will do now is that we will evaluate all the courtesy resignations. We will also look at the process that each hiree or each employee went through to get the promotion, and to make sure that it went through the proper process. That will be the basis of the decision of the Ombudsman,” Clavano said.

“[This will be done with] ASAP (as soon as possible). This is something that we feel is very important to get the institution running again in full force. Alam naman po natin na nagkaroon ng effect ito sa ating institution, but [it was a] necessary effect. Dahil po, dito natin malalaman yung loyalty ng mga tao sa opisina na ito. Since this is a necessary step, we really do want to make sure na as soon as possible, ma-resolve ka agad lahat,” Clavano added.

(This situation had an effect in our institution, but it was a necessary effect because it will speak a lot about the loyalty of the personnel to the Ombudsman's office. Since this was a necessary step, we want to resolve it immediately.)

Asked for the timeline on when the evaluation will be done, Clavano replied, “those who tendered their courtesy resignations can expect an answer very soon.”

Clavano said that there were just a few of the 204 who have yet to file courtesy resignations.

“If anything, [their number is] very, very, very minimal na lang po. Pero sa tingin po natin, it is something that we can overcome already,” Clavano added.

(Those who are yet to submit courtesy resignation are minimal.)

Remulla earlier called the hiring and promotion of 204 individuals questionable at the very least since it was done right before Martires' tenure of Ombudsman in July this year. 

Martires, however, earlier denied making last minute appointments, saying the Ombudsman is not a political office and that his actions on the 204 individuals are based on merit. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News