Remulla’s appointment

Newly minted Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla is now certainly a dangerous adversary.

That is, in the context of our present tribalist politics, Remulla and the extensive powers he now wields present a grave, even costly, danger to the increasingly defensive Duterte camp, threatening its survival as a power broker down the road.

At any rate, an initial volley of scornful shots has been fired by the Duterte partisans at Remulla, all with the clear intent of not only quickly maiming him but also in hopes of raising public scandal over his Ombudsman role.

But it seems Remulla isn’t ducking for cover, partly because the pro-Duterte attack dogs hadn’t adequately covered themselves to safely dodge the ricochets of the bullets they fired.

More so because the initial volleys targeted Remulla’s off-the-cuff reply to reporters that he had to examine the Veep’s SALNs (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth) since they were already in his office — way off the mark from the far more pressing challenge Remulla is facing on whether or not he can pin down the thieves who had stolen nearly P100 billion from anomalous flood control projects.

Which only showed that the twitchy Duterte camp’s repetitive canned responses were really their worry about what Remulla — should he have the time —— will dig up against their camp’s main pillars rather than about his serious, measured business of taking down systemic corruption.

But then it is precisely the worry that Remulla will bring to light what was long adeptly hidden by the previous Ombudsman, which strongly registered when the Duterte camp tried knocking Remulla out even before he was named Ombudsman.

A flanking maneuver which all but told of the strategic fact that the Ombudsman post, which the Duterte camp previously occupied, was a virtual political armory.

Indeed, the Ombudsman post was precious to the Duterte camp until the undistinguished Duterte-friendly luminary holding fort there retired in July.

As the Duterte-friendly personage held court, critics charged that he did serious damage by reversing accountability and transparency mechanisms the Ombudsman had long imposed to rein in public officials.

Specifically, the Duterte-friendly personage was taken to task for his early moves of locking down access to public officials’ SALNs and later for his ridiculous dismissal of lifestyle checks on public officials as “illogical.”

Restricting access to SALNs was particularly galling since it prevented public access to the former strongman’s SALNs. So much so that the former strongman was the only president in the past 30 years not to make the annual wealth disclosures public.

But SALNs and lifestyle checks weren’t the only breaking points. Critics charged the previous Ombudsman was practically sleeping on the job, citing 2024 official records that showed only 138 malfeasance cases were filed before the Sandiganbayan, the lowest number in recent memory.

And, in cases involving powerful political figures, “there was selective fire” as one critic put it, citing the case of the Veep who, when accused of making public threats, was let off with a wink and a hand tap because there were “no valid grounds” for an investigation.

In short, the previous Ombudsman acted more like an insurer rather than the institutional tribune-protector of the people.

But the insurance policies the sketchy tribune issued have lapsed at a time the Duterte camp needs them most, at a time when the Marcos camp seems decided on raw power plays that Remulla’s appointment signals.