Choose well

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor PATRICK PANGILINAN Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

The members of the Judicial and Bar Council have agreed that the new Ombudsman will serve the full term of seven years and will not only complete the unexpired tenure of Merceditas Gutierrez. Aside from clarifying that, however, the JBC has yet to start the selection process as it cannot proceed until it receives the official request from Malacañang, or a notice of the vacancy from the Office of the Ombudsman.Upon announcement of the vacancy, applications and recommendations may then be submitted to the council over the next 10 days. Since the resignation of Gutierrez takes effect May 6, the President has until August 4 to name her successor. The JBC is scheduled to meet again on May 23 to start the selection process and is required to submit a list of at least three nominees to the President.The role of the new Ombudsman will be critical because he or she will be the lynchpin of President Noynoy Aquino’s much vaunted war on corruption. The list that the JBC will submit from which the President will ultimately choose the Ombudsman for the next seven years, will be one of the most important appointments that could make or break the P-Noy administration. The next Ombudsman can not only prove to us once and for all if his embattled predecessor was truly guilty of betraying the trust of the Filipino people by her acts of omission but can also become a pivotal force in the war against corruption. Imagine where our country would be if we had been blessed with Ombudsmen who possessed the integrity, brilliance, determination and courage necessary to make all the government officials in the land always think about the consequences of the non-bailable crime of plunder.Will the JBC be able to find the few people in this land who are not just willing, but more so, are capable of accepting that challenge and carrying the burden that comes with it? The last six years have shown us just how crucial an effective Ombudsman is to the moral fabric of a nation. If P-Noy is truly determined to make his mark in the war against corruption, then he will need the best Ombudsman this country can offer. Let us hope that the JBC takes its task seriously and helps, not only P-Noy, but the entire Filipino nation during this critical juncture of that quest.*