True to his word that there would be no sacred cows under his term, newly-minted Ombudsman Samuel Martires said he will summon President Rodrigo Duterte’s former lawyer Edna Batacan to demand that she substantiate her allegations of corruption in the anti-graft body.

“I will be demanding, not requesting, from Atty. Edna Batacan for her to identify the officer or employee who she provided a so-called ‘parking fee,’” said Martires, who is set to start his work at the Office of the Ombudsman on Wednesday.

Batacan, in her interview with the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) as candidate for the Ombudsman post, said she was a victim of corruption while serving as lawyer for the Ombudsman, also describing the agency as “corruption-ridden.”

Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio earlier lodged a complaint against Batacan before the JBC for allegedly asking for P80 million from a mutual client to pay the Ombudsman in exchange for a case dismissal.

Asked about possible charges against Batacan, Martires responded: “I don’t want to go into that at the moment. I just want her to cooperate with us.”

Martires vowed to immediately resolve cases and address inordinate delays.

“My priorities will be the pending cases, the issue on inordinate delay which has been an issue that has been haunting the Sandiganbayan as well as the Supreme Court (SC). I will immediately look into that and the causes for the delay,” he told reporters during his last flag-raising ceremony as an associate justice of the High Court on Monday.

Martires, in his farewell speech at the SC, said he must have done something good to deserve the opportunity to work in the highest court in the land.

Martires said he has tasked Ombudsman Special Prosecutor Edilberto Sandoval to look into pending cases, which have already exceeded the prescribed resolution period.

He added that he would meet with Ombudsman officials to discuss the system he would implement, which aims to eliminate delay in the resolution of cases.

“I was just an ordinary lawyer fortunate to serve the judiciary. I never expected that I will be appointed as associate justice,” Martires said. “It looked like I may have done something good in my life that God has brought me to the Supreme Court,” he added.

Among aspirants to the Ombudsman post, he got the unanimous recommendation from his colleagues.

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