Former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez has taken her oath as the new chairperson of the National Council of Senior Citizens (NCSC), a week after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed her to the said post.
Photos sent to the media on Thursday showed Gutierrez taking her oath before Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo in a ceremony attended by her children, including Justice Undersecretary Margarita Gutierrez.
Aside from Gutierrez’ daughters, also present were Assistant Secretary Jomar Canlas from the Office of the Executive Secretary, former Special Prosecutor Atty. Wendell Sulit, and FPJ Panday Bayanihan Party-list Rep. Brian Poe Llamanzares.
Gutierrez, the first woman Ombudsman of the country, has been to different offices over her career. Prior to her Ombudsman post, she used to be the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel and held different positions at the Department of Justice-at one point as acting secretary.
The former Ombudsman grabbed headlines recently after she was one of the past and present Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) officials who asked GSIS president and general manager Jose Arnulfo ‘Wick’ Veloso to resign due to ‘poor investment decisions.’
In a letter, Gutierrez, a GSIS board member who chaired the state-run insurer’s legal oversight committee, along with other GSIS officials said that Veloso was pursuing risky investments ‘marked by a disturbing lack of transparency.’
Aside from Gutierrez, the following officials signed the letter: Emmanuel de Leon Samson, chair of the risk oversight committee; Rita Riddle, chair of the audit committee; Evelina Escudero, board member; and former board members Jocelyn de Guzman Cabreza and Alan Luga.
‘Your continued presence at the helm of the GSIS puts the welfare of its 2.6 million members-dedicated public servants who have entrusted their life savings and future security to this institution-in imminent danger,’ they wrote.
‘The primary mandate of the GSIS is to manage its funds with utmost prudence, diligence, and loyalty. Your current trajectory suggests a departure from this sacred mandate, prioritizing transactions that serve interests other than those of the members,’ they added.
Gutierrez, Samson, and Riddle eventually submitted their respective resignations to Marcos, citing deep divisions over Veloso’s investment strategies.
This paved the way for Gutierrez’s appointment to the NCSC, where she said she aims to champion policies and programs that will enhance the lives of senior citizens, while ensuring their voices are heard and their contributions to society are recognized.