KARAPATAN: Remulla’s appointment as Ombudsman is meant to shield Marcos Jr. clique from accountability
KARAPATAN Public Information
PRESS STATEMENT
09 October 2025
References: Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general, 09173162831
KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 09189790580
KARAPATAN: Remulla’s appointment as Ombudsman is meant to shield Marcos Jr. clique from accountability
Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s latest maneuver of appointing former justice secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla as the new Ombudsman is meant to shield members of his ruling clique from being targeted should they be charged with corruption, human rights violations or other serious crimes.
What better way to frustrate the ends of justice and accountability than to appoint as Ombudsman an injustice secretary who has maliciously weaponized laws to persecute the ruling regime’s perceived enemies and transformed the concoction of trumped-up charges into a malevolent art.
Remulla’s record as justice secretary does not bode well either for victims of state violence and persecution who may be planning to file charges against their assailants. Under his watch, prosecutors investigating the Bloody Sunday Massacre exonerated the policemen responsible for the extrajudicial killing of Bayan-Cavite coordinator Manny Asuncion and activist couple Ariel and Ana Mariz Evangelista. In fact, the DOJ-led inter-agency committee created under Administrative Order No. 35 has not had a single significant investigation or conviction under Remulla’s leadership. Remulla has also reneged on his promises to families of drug war victims to file cases against the perpetrators. Impunity reared its ugly head prominently under Remulla, making him an enabler of criminals within government.
Remulla will now be bringing his sinister skill set with him to the Office of the Ombudsman to make sure that only the ruling regime’s political rivals end up on the dock for bureaucratic corruption, human rights violations and other crimes.
Appointing Remulla as Ombudsman is a desperate and frantic move by Marcos Jr., especially now that the corruption exposés are pointing to Malacañang. The preponderance of evidence shows that Marcos Jr. can neither feign ignorance nor innocence over the fact that he, as chief executive, had authorized the billions of pesos of unprogrammed funds that have justified budgetary insertions and made it possible for corrupt businessmen and their avaricious political patrons to line their pockets with lucre.
But now, Marcos Jr. has Remulla to further injustice in the ruling clique’s favor.
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KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties. It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign.