Ombudsman Urges SC to Act on Complaint vs. 7 CA Justices Over TRO

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla on Saturday called on the Supreme Court to act on a complaint filed last year by former Ombudsman Samuel Martires against seven Court of Appeals (CA) justices for alleged gross ignorance of the law. In a radio program on Saturday, Remulla said his office was responding to the Supreme Court’s challenge to file complaints over alleged misconduct in the judiciary. “Ang ginagawa namin ngayon, iniipon namin lahat ‘yung graveyard namin ng mga reversed cases and TROs issued. Sa admin ito. So iniipon namin ‘yan, ipa-publish namin ‘yan,” he said. (What we are doing now is collecting all the reversed cases and TROs issued in administrative cases. We are compiling them and will publish them.) GMA News Online sought the side of the Supreme Court for comment and will update this story once a response is received. Remulla recalled that Martires filed the complaint on March 21, 2025, against Associate Justices Louis Acosta, Marlene Gonzales-Sison, Rex Bernardo Pascual, Mary Charlene Hernandez-Azura, Roberto Quiroz, Rafael Antonio Santos, and Ferdinand Baylon. The former Ombudsman accused the CA justices of alleged gross ignorance of the law and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service. The complaint stemmed from the justices’ issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) against a preventive suspension order involving eight members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Antique. “To date, there appears to be no public record of the Judicial Integrity Board or the Supreme Court having acted on or resolved the complaint,” Remulla said. Remulla underscored his office’s mandate to inform the public about such cases. “We will also inform them of everything, but we will also inform the public. Since you're inviting us to file the complaints, we will also inform the public. It's our duty to inform the public of these things that have happened,” he said. — MCG, GMA News