| Tanggapan ng Tanodbayan | |
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1988 |
| Jurisdiction | Philippines |
| Headquarters | Senator Miriam P. Defensor-Santiago Avenue,Quezon City, Philippines |
| Employees | 1,212 (2024)[1] |
| Annual budget | ₱4.05 billion (2020)[3] |
| Agency executive |
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| Website | www |
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 Philippines portal |
In the Philippines, theOffice of the Ombudsman (Filipino:Tanggapan ng Tanodbayan)[4] is the constitutional body responsible for investigating and prosecutingPhilippine government officials accused of crimes, especially graft and corruption.
Under the1987 Philippine Constitution and theOmbudsman Act of 1989, the Office of the Ombudsman independently monitors all three branches of the government for political corruption. The ombudsman "is principally tasked to investigate on its own or upon complaint by any person, in any form or manner, any act or omission of any public officer or employee, including those in government-owned or controlled corporations, which appears to be illegal, unjust, improper or inefficient."[5] After an investigation, the ombudsman files charges at theSandiganbayan, a special anti-graft court.
The Offices of the Ombudsman includes the ombudsman's own office, along with offices for a team composed of asheriff, the ombudsman's second in command, and six other deputies who lead their respective divisions or bureaus.
The Office of the Ombudsman predates the 1987 Constitution. There have been several offices established under various presidents of the Philippines whose duties are now subsumed under the Office of the Ombudsman. PresidentElpidio Quirino established theIntegrity Board in 1950; PresidentRamon Magsaysay, thePresidential Complaints and Action Commission in 1957; PresidentCarlos P. Garcia, thePresidential Committee on Administration Performance Efficiency in 1958; PresidentDiosdado Macapagal, thePresidential Anti-Graft Committee in 1962; and finally PresidentFerdinand Marcos, thePresidential Agency on Reform and Government Operations in 1966.[6]
In 1969, theOffice of the Citizens Counselor was created by the Republic Act No. 6028.[6] It was primarily designed to conduct fact-finding investigations and make recommendations to Congress and the President.[6] The office was "not at all implemented."[6] Subsequently, Marcos created theComplaints and Investigation Office in 1970 and thePresidential Administrative Assistance Committee in 1971.[6] None of these were successful nor were independent.[7]
In the martial law-era 1973 Philippine Constitution (Sections 5 and 6, Article XIII), provided for the establishment of a special court called theSandiganbayan and an office of the ombudsman called theTanodbayan.[6] On June 11, 1978, duringmartial law, then PresidentFerdinand Marcos created bypresidential decree the office of the Tanodbayan.[6][8] The Tanodbayan was not independent but served at the pleasure of the president and could be removed at any time.[8]
After Marcos was overthrown in the 1986People Power Revolution,President Corazon Aquino issued two executive orders (nos. 243 and 244) in July 1987 that dictated a new Office of the Ombudsman and transformed the Tanodbayan into the Office of the Special Prosecutor under the ombudsman.[5] Following the passage of the 1987 Constitution, the Ombudsman Act of 1989 was passed to define the roles and structure of the Office.[5]
In March 2011, PresidentBenigno Aquino III ordered the dismissal of Emilio Gonzales III as Deputy Ombudsman for Military and Other Law Enforcement Officers for neglecting to properly handle the complaint filed by policeman Rolando Mendoza prior to theManila hostage crisis in 2010.[9] In September 2012, Gonzales was ordered reinstated by theSupreme Court, which argued among others that he did not commit an offense that could be considered "intentional wrongdoing[...] amounting to betrayal of public trust".[10][11] By January 2014, the Supreme Court ruled the president's dismissal of a deputy ombudsman to be unconstitutional as it violates the independence of the Office of the Ombudsman provided by theConstitution.[12]
In 2016, Overall Deputy OmbudsmanMelchor Arthur Carandang began investigating a plunder complaint filed by SenatorAntonio Trillanes regarding the allegedly questionable bank accounts of PresidentRodrigo Duterte and his family from 2006 to 2016.[13][14] By July 2018, Carandang was ordered dismissed from office byExecutive SecretarySalvador Medialdea for allegedly committing graft, corruption and betrayal of public trust in issuing statements about the Duterte family's bank records.[15] In spite of Carandang's appeal, as well as criticism from observers that Medialdea's order violates the Supreme Court ruling from 2014 regarding the independence of the agency,[16][17][18] the dismissal order was enforced on June 17, 2019;[19][20] Duterte later appointed procurement director Warren Rex Liong of theDepartment of Budget and Management as ODO in November 2020.[21]
In August 2023, a special panel of investigators at the Ombudsman recommended that Liong be charged with three counts of graft for his alleged involvement in thePharmally scandal that was uncovered in 2021.[22][23]
The ombudsman and its subordinates are appointed by thepresident of the Philippines from a list submitted by theJudicial and Bar Council for a nonrenewable seven-year term. The ombudsman can be removed from office only through impeachment.
| Name | Photo | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Jesus Crispin Remulla | .jpg) | Tanodbayan (Ombudsman) |
| Jose M. Balmeo, Jr. | Officer-in-charge, Overall Deputy Ombudsman[24] Deputy Ombudsman for Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices | |
| Cornelio L. Somido[24] | Officer-in-charge, Overall Deputy Ombudsman Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon | |
| Dante F. Vargas |  | Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas |
| Anderson A. Lo | Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao | |
| Mariflor Punzalan-Castillo | Special Prosecutor |
| No. | Image | Ombudsman | Term[25] | Tenure length | Appointing President | Post held prior to appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Conrado M. Vasquez (1913–2006) | May 12, 1988 – May 12, 1995 | 7 years, 0 days | Corazon Aquino | Supreme Court Associate Justice (1982–1983) |
| — | | Francisco Villa Officer-in-charge | May 19, 1995 – August 4, 1995 | 77 days | Fidel V. Ramos | Overall Deputy Ombudsman (1992) |
| 2 | | Aniano A. Desierto (born 1935) | August 4, 1995 – August 4, 2002 | 7 years, 0 days | Special Prosecutor (1991–1995) | |
| — | | Margarito Gervacio Acting | August 4, 2002 – October 10, 2002 | 67 days | Gloria Macapagal Arroyo | Overall Deputy Ombudsman (1999) |
| 3 |  | Simeon V. Marcelo (born 1953) | October 10, 2002 – December 1, 2005[a] | 3 years, 52 days | Solicitor General (2001–2002) | |
| 4 | | Merceditas Gutierrez (born 1948) | December 1, 2005 – May 6, 2011[a] | 5 years, 156 days | Justice Secretary (2002–2003, 2003–2004) | |
| — | | Orlando Casimiro Acting | May 6, 2011 – July 28, 2011 | 82 days | Benigno Aquino III | Overall Deputy Ombudsman |
| 5 | .jpg) | Conchita Carpio-Morales (born 1941) | July 28, 2011 – July 28, 2018 | 7 years, 0 days | Supreme Court Associate Justice (2002–2011) | |
| 6 |  | Samuel Martires (born 1949) | July 28, 2018 – July 28, 2025 | 7 years, 0 days | Rodrigo Duterte | Supreme Court Associate Justice (2017–2018) |
| — | | Mariflor Punzalan-Castillo Officer-in-charge | July 28, 2025 – August 27, 2025 | 30 days | Bongbong Marcos | Special Prosecutor (2024–2025) |
| — | | Dante Vargas Officer-in-charge | August 27, 2025 – October 10, 2025 | 41 days | Deputy Ombudsman (2022–2025) | |
| 7 | | Jesus Crispin Remulla (born 1961) | October 10, 2025 – present | 49 days | Justice Secretary (2022–2025) |
On Thursday [May 5], the senator filed before the Ombudsman a plunder case, among other criminal and administrative charges, against Duterte.
Asked if the documents he had received from AMLC were the same as the ones Trillanes had submitted, Carandang said he 'cannot confirm' it just yet. 'But more or less, they have the same details,' he said.
In a report by The STAR, Martires said that he will carry out the dismissal order from the Office of the Executive Secretary. This, despite a 2014 Supreme Court ruling that voided the president's disciplinary jurisdiction over a deputy ombudsman.
