thumb|right|200px|Building in Quezon City housing the Office of the Ombudsman

The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) (), is a constitutional body established under the 1987 Constitution, tasked with investigating and prosecuting government officials accused of crimes, particularly those involving graft and corruption.

Jesus Crispin Remulla, the 58th Secretary of Justice, has been serving as the seventh Ombudsman of the Philippines since 2025, following his appointment by President Bongbong Marcos.

Functions

Under the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the Ombudsman 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."

  • Integrity Board (Elpidio Quirino, established 1950)
  • Presidential Complaints and Action Commission (Ramon Magsaysay, established 1957)
  • Presidential Committee on Administration Performance Efficiency (Carlos P. Garcia, established 1958)
  • Presidential Anti-Graft Committee (Diosdado Macapagal, established 1962)
  • Presidential Agency on Reform and Government Operations (Ferdinand Marcos, established 1966)

In 1969, the Office of the Citizens Counselor was created by the Republic Act No. 6028.

In the martial law-era 1973 Philippine Constitution (Sections 5 and 6, Article XIII), provided for the establishment of a special court called the Sandiganbayan and an office of the ombudsman called the tanodbayan. The Tanodbayan was not independent but served at the pleasure of the president and could be removed at any time. Following the passage of the 1987 Constitution, the Ombudsman Act of 1989 was passed to define the roles and structure of the Office. In September 2012, Gonzales was ordered reinstated by the Supreme Court, which argued among others that he did not commit an offense that could be considered "intentional wrongdoing[...] amounting to betrayal of public trust". 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 the Constitution.

In 2016, Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang began investigating a plunder complaint filed by Senator Antonio Trillanes regarding the allegedly questionable bank accounts of President Rodrigo Duterte and his family from 2006 to 2016. By July 2018, Carandang was ordered dismissed from office by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea for allegedly committing graft, corruption and betrayal of public trust in issuing statements about the Duterte family's bank records. 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, the dismissal order was enforced on June 17, 2019; Duterte later appointed procurement director Warren Rex Liong of the Department of Budget and Management as ODO in November 2020.

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 the Pharmally scandal that was uncovered in 2021.

Officials

The ombudsman and its subordinates are appointed by the president of the Philippines from a list submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council for a non-renewable seven-year term. The ombudsman can be removed from office only through impeachment.

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Photo

! Name

! Position

|-

|136x136px

| Jesus Crispin Remulla

| Ombudsman

|-

|

| Cornelio L. Somido

| rowspan="2" | Overall Deputy Ombudsmen (Officers-in-Charge)

|-

|

|Dante F. Vargas

|-

|

| Cornelio L. Somido

| Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon

|-

| 100px

| Dante F. Vargas

| Deputy Ombudsman for Visayas

|-

|

| Anderson A. Lo

| Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao

|-

|

| Jose M. Balmeo, Jr.

|Deputy Ombudsman for Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices

|-

|

| Mariflor Punzalan-Castillo

| Special Prosecutor

|}

List of ombudsmen

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! scope="col" | #

! scope="col" | Image

! scope="col" | Ombudsman

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Term

! scope="col" | Appointing President

! scope="col" width=160px | Post held prior to appointment

|-

! 1

| 100px

| <br><small>(1913–2006)</small>

| May 12, 1988<br>–<br>May 12, 1995<br/>()

| Corazon Aquino

| Supreme Court Associate Justice (1982–1983)

|-

! —

|

| <br><small>Officer-in-charge</small>

| May 19, 1995<br>–<br>August 4, 1995<br/>()

| rowspan="2" |Fidel V. Ramos

| Overall Deputy Ombudsman (1992)

|-

! 2

|

| <br><small>(born 1935)</small>

| August 4, 1995<br>–<br>August 4, 2002<br/>()

| Special Prosecutor (1991–1995)

|-

! —

|

|

<br><small>Acting</small>

|August 4, 2002<br>–<br>October 10, 2002<br/>()

| rowspan="3" |Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

|Overall Deputy Ombudsman (1999)

|-

! 3

|100px

| <br><small>(born 1953)</small>

| October 10, 2002<br>–<br>December 1, 2005<br/>()

| Solicitor General (2001–2002)

|-

! 4

|frameless|117x117px

| <br><small>(born 1948)</small>

| December 1, 2005<br>–<br>May 6, 2011<br/>()

| Justice Secretary (2002–2003, 2003–2004)

|-

! —

|

| <br><small>Acting</small>

| May 6, 2011<br>–<br>July 28, 2011<br/>()

| rowspan="2" |Benigno Aquino III

| Overall Deputy Ombudsman

|-

! 5

| 125x125px

| <br><small>(born 1941)</small>

| July 26, 2011<br>–<br>July 26, 2018<br/>()

| Supreme Court Associate Justice (2002–2011)

|-

! 6

|100px

|<br><small>(born 1949)</small>

|August 6, 2018<br>–<br>July 27, 2025<br/>()

| Rodrigo Duterte

|Supreme Court Associate Justice (2017–2018)

|-

! —

|

| <br><small>Officer-in-charge</small>

|July 28, 2025<br>–<br>August 27, 2025<br/>()

| rowspan="3" |Bongbong Marcos

|Special Prosecutor (2024–2025)

|-

! —

|

| <br><small>Officer-in-charge</small>

|August 27, 2025<br>–<br>October 9, 2025<br/>()

| Deputy Ombudsman (2022–2025)

|-

! 7

|136x136px

|<br><small>(born 1961)</small>

| October 9, 2025<br>–<br>present<br/>()

| Justice Secretary (2022–2025)

|}

<timeline>

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PlotArea = top:10 bottom:60 right:130 left:20

AlignBars = late

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy

Period = from:05/12/1988 till:12/31/2026

TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal

ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1990

BarData =

barset:PM

PlotData=

width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

barset:PM

from:05/12/1988 till:05/12/1995 text:Vasquez

from:08/04/1995 till:08/04/2002 text:Desierto

from:10/10/2002 till:12/01/2005 text:Marcelo

from:12/01/2005 till:05/06/2011 text:Gutierrez

from:07/26/2011 till:07/26/2018 text:Morales

from:08/06/2018 till:07/27/2025 text:Martires

from:10/09/2025 till:12/31/2026 text:Remulla

</timeline>

See also

  • Political history of the Philippines
  • Vice President of the Philippines
  • Supreme Court of the Philippines
  • President of the Philippines
  • House of Representatives of the Philippines
  • Senate of the Philippines
  • Constitution of the Philippines
  • Congress of the Philippines
  • Executive Departments of the Philippines

References

  • Office of the Ombudsman Official Website