The appointment of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla as Ombudsman marks not merely a reshuffling of posts, but the quiet completion of a capture.

The Office of the Ombudsman, constitutionally independent, structurally insulated, and morally positioned as the last bastion against corruption, has now been handed to one of the administration’s most loyal insiders. In one stroke, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has transformed the people’s watchdog into the Palace’s firewall.

Remulla is no stranger to controversy or political calculation. As Justice Secretary, he oversaw prosecutions that critics described as selective, steering clear of allies while striking at opponents. He defended government excesses with precision and discipline. For the Marcos administration, he was a dependable hand, steady, loyal, and unflinching.

But the Ombudsman is not supposed to be loyal. It is supposed to be feared. It is designed to be beyond reach: the conscience of the state, not its shield. By placing Remulla there, the Palace has completed a circle of control that now encompasses law enforcement, prosecution, and oversight.

The implication is stark: corruption may still be condemned in speeches, but it will now be curated in practice.

From Oversight to Overreach

Remulla’s ascent comes at a moment when public confidence in accountability is collapsing. The flood-control scandal has implicated lawmakers, contractors, and cabinet allies. Billions of pesos are missing, yet no one has been arrested. The supposed reformers, Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong and Senator Panfilo Lacson, have resigned from their integrity posts, citing interference and futility.

And in the middle of it all, the President’s cousin, former Speaker Martin Romualdez, remains uncharged despite being named in multiple testimonies.

With Remulla as Ombudsman, the signal to the public is unmistakable: the walls of impunity are not cracking; they are being reinforced.

The risk is not just political; it is systemic. A captured Ombudsman means the state’s internal mechanisms for cleansing itself have been neutralized. Corruption cases will be filtered through political calculus:

• Allies will be shielded, their cases delayed or dismissed.
• Rivals, particularly Duterte-aligned figures, will find themselves under investigation.
• The rest of the bureaucracy will take the hint: loyalty, not integrity, ensures survival.

When accountability becomes discretionary, justice becomes theater.

For PBBM, this appointment may feel like protection: a loyal Ombudsman to manage the political fallout of scandal. But in reality, it deepens his vulnerability. He promised a presidency of redemption, one that would cleanse the Marcos name of its old sins.

Instead, he is building an administration that looks increasingly like the one his father left behind: strong in structure, weak in substance; grand in promise, hollow in principle.

A government that shields itself from scrutiny inevitably loses the moral power to govern.

This move will not go unnoticed.

• For the international community, e.g., the ADB, the World Bank, and foreign investors – it confirms fears of regulatory capture and weak rule of law, raising the country’s corruption risk profile.
• For the domestic public, it will reinforce cynicism: that institutions are for decoration, not discipline.
• For the opposition and civil society, it provides a rallying cry, not against Marcos alone, but against a system that now appears engineered to perpetuate immunity for the powerful.

Final Word

Remulla’s appointment as Ombudsman is not just another Cabinet shuffle. It is a statement of intent. It says: “We will investigate everyone except ourselves.”

It marks the end of the illusion that corruption is being fought from within. What remains is performance politics: speeches of outrage, committees of oversight, and investigations without consequence.

The Ombudsman was meant to be the conscience of the Republic. Under Remulla, it risks becoming its accomplice.

And when that happens, the tragedy is not just that the guilty go free. It is that the nation forgets what accountability ever looked like.