“With this one, with the new development in the Ombudsman, when there will be change in the leadership, it is likely to be more intense.”

The anti-corruption campaign is expected to intensify when President Duterte appoints a new Ombudsman, a Palace official said yesterday.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales is set to retire on July 26 and at least five are reported to be vying for the post.

“With this one, with the new development in the Ombudsman, when there will be change in the leadership, it is likely to be more intense,” Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Marie Rafel Banaag said.

The PCOO assistant secretary for operation and legislative affairs said it can only be expected “because, of course, the line of communication is more open between the Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of the President.”

Morales, an appointee of former President Benigno Aquino III, and Duterte has been exchanging tirades since the latter assumed office.

Morales drew the ire of Duterte when she said in one of her speeches that the President’s rhetoric on the war on drugs has been goading people to kill people.

Duterte, in retaliation, told Morales not to play god and shut up since the Office of the Ombudsman is also marred with corruption.

The Office of the Ombudsman independently monitors all three branches of government and acts promptly on any administrative and criminal offenses against officers and employees of the government, including government-owned and controlled corporations.

Among the reported “candidates” as the next Ombudsman are Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) Sec. Silvestre Bello, Sandiganbayan Justice Efren Dela Cruz, Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Martires, Ombudsman Special Prosecutor Edilberto Sandoval and Pres. Duterte’s former lawyer Edna Herrera-Batacan.