A YouTube video claims that Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla is the new Ombudsman. Not true.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has yet to select a new ombudsman as the Judicial and Bar Council has not even released its shortlist of nominees for the position.
Uploaded on Sept. 1, the video’s headline read:
“REMULLA NA ANG NEW OMBUDSMAN! MAY NAGLEAKED! (Remulla is the new Ombudsman! Someone leaked it!)”
Dante Vargas is currently Acting Ombudsman after Samuel Martires’ seven-year term ended on July 27.
The JBC concluded its public interviews of applicants for the position only on Sept. 2, a day after the video surfaced. After deliberations, the JBC will release a shortlist of nominees for Ombudsman from which the president will choose who to appoint.
The video emerged a day after Sen. Imee Marcos claimed that Vargas is being bribed to dismiss a case she filed against Remulla in the Office of the Ombudsman for the arrest and turnover of former president Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court in The Hague..
Supreme Court Spokesperson Camille Ting said Remulla must be cleared of this pending case before the end of deliberations “in the next few weeks” so he can qualify as a shortlisted nominee.
Remulla said he will file a motion to resolve the case “as soon as possible.”
Uploaded by YouTube channel Robin Sweet Showbiz, the erroneous video received 13,346 interactions.
VERA Files Fact Check previously debunked a claim that Remulla has been disqualified from the Ombudsman race.
