Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said the judiciary needs to undergo ‘soul-searching’ and be ‘examined closely by everybody in government’ to address long-standing problems in the country’s justice system.
Remulla made the remarks during the Senate committee on finance hearing on Thursday on the proposed 2027 budget of the Office of the Ombudsman.
‘It’s just probably unfortunate that I have to mention this. Many of those that we have dismissed in the Office of the Ombudsman institutionally, in many cases, we’re talking about many, many cases, that were reversed by the Court of Appeals,’ he said.
‘That is a trend that’s known to the whole Office of the Ombudsman,’ Remulla said, adding that he had discussed the matter with Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen.
‘I told him about this problem that we have because institutionally, it’s very discouraging to be conducting all of these activities only to be reversed by the Court of Appeals decision that came out of nowhere,’ he said.
He acknowledged that it was unusual for lawyers to criticize the courts but said the issue needed to be raised.
‘As a lawyer, it’s not really common for lawyers to complain about the courts. But sometimes we just have to raise that issue already because it can be the biggest elephant in the room, within our justice system,’ the Ombudsman said.
Remulla later told the media that his remarks were prompted by his experience as a lawyer and government official and ‘something that I have to do for the country.’
‘I think my experience as a lawyer and government official and advocate speak for itself, It something that everybody knows but somebody should say it,’ he added.
‘If there’s one thing that was never touched with all the EDSAs that happened to this country, [it] is the judiciary. Never has the judiciary accounted for everything that they’ve been doing,’ he added. ‘It’s actually a problem that has been there for the longest time, but it has to be said openly.
Meanwhile, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian urged stronger coordination between the Office of the Ombudsman and the judiciary to make the ‘wheels of justice’ move faster, more efficiently, and more fairly.
He warned that a slow and fragmented justice system undermines accountability, stressing that when cases take years to resolve, it is ultimately the Filipino people who bear the cost.
Gatchalian raised the issue after Remulla told senators that it takes an average of 15 years for the Sandiganbayan to resolve a case. Remulla also said the CA reverses many of the Ombudsman’s decisions.
‘I am not blaming them. I am just saying that the wheels of justice are broken. … They seem to be stuck,’ Gatchalian said.
He asked what steps the Ombudsman was taking with the judiciary to speed up the resolution of cases, stressing that the Ombudsman’s proactive efforts could be undermined if cases remain stuck in the judicial process.
In response, Remulla said the government could establish a coordinating mechanism involving the Ombudsman and the judiciary, similar to the Justice Sector Coordinating Council he worked with when he was Secretary of Justice.
Such coordination, he said, could help make the ‘wheels of justice’ move faster, noting that delays in resolving cases have long affected not only accountability but also business investments and economic progress.
Gatchalian reiterated his support for efforts to improve the efficiency of the justice system, emphasizing that delays in the accountability process ultimately hurt the public.
‘If our accountability mechanisms do not function, from the Ombudsman all the way to the judiciary, it is not necessarily the respondent or the accused who suffers. It is the people who suffer,’ Gatchalian said