FORMER Ombudsman Samuel Martires has maintained that his appointment of more than 200 individuals to various positions in the agency prior to his retirement was necessary and cannot be considered as ‘midnight appointments.’
Martires stressed that the ban on midnight appointment under Section 5, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, does not cover the Office of the Ombudsman since it is not a political office.
The said provision specifically states that: ‘Two months immediately before the next presidential elections and up to the end of his term, a President or Acting President shall not make appointments, except temporary appointments to executive positions when continued vacancies therein will prejudice public service or endanger public safety,’ Martires said in an interview over radio station dzBB.
‘I don’t have midnight appointees because we are not a political office,’ Martires stressed.
He added that some of the appointments were in line with his objective to fill-up existing vacancies for plantilla positions while the other appointments were for new positions which were approved by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
The former Ombudsman recounted that in August 2024 he asked the DBM to allow him to hire 60 lawyers following his decision to do away with the fact-finding investigation and merge its unit with the preliminary investigation unit of the agency in order to speed up the resolution of complaints.
The request was approved by the DBM in January 2025 and the hiring for the 60 lawyers was immediately published on the Civil Service Commission’s (CSC) website.
Aside from the 60 new posts, Martires said he also secured DBM approval for hiring of personnel for other plantilla positions in the Ombudsman.
‘These 204 positions are from drivers up to the lawyers,’ he pointed out.
Martires also stressed that the promotion of two personnel to Assistant Ombudsman was based on merit.
He added that the promotion was necessary following the retirement of two assistant Ombudsman.
Martires was responding to the claim of his successor, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, that the said appointments may be considered as midnight appointees.
Thus, Remulla ordered the 204 newly-hired and newly-promoted employees to submit their courtesy resignations to show that they are in good faith.
Meanwhile, Assistant Ombudsman and spokesperson Jose Dominic Clavano IV has disclosed that some of the 204 employees have already tendered their courtesy resignations.
‘I am not aware of how many submitted but there’s a good number that have submitted already and have shown their good faith to the Ombudsman regarding their recent appointments or recent promotions,’ Clavano said.
Clavano also confirmed that there were those who are opposing the order and are gathering support against it.
‘The Ombudsman is aware of that. But, again, he is giving another chance to these individuals to file their courtesy resignations as a show of good faith. If they are not hiding anything in terms of procedures in which they were hired or promoted, then there’s really nothing to worry about,’ he added.