President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has appointed former Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Mariflor Punzalan-Castillo as Acting Ombudsman, following the retirement of Ombudsman Samuel Martires on July 27 after a seven-year term.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin administered her oath on Monday in Malacañang.
According to a news release from Malacañang, Punzalan-Castillo is a University of the Philippines College of Law graduate who began her career in the Office of the Tanodbayan (precursor to the Office of the Ombudsman) as an investigator in 1979. She became a Tanodbayan prosecutor in 1985 and, in 1989, was appointed Special Prosecution Officer III under the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
She joined the judiciary in 1993 as presiding judge of the Metropolitan Trial Court in Quezon City, later serving at the Regional Trial Court until 2004. That year, she was appointed associate justice of the Court of Appeals, rising to Presiding Justice in 2023.
Punzalan-Castillo retired from the judiciary in September 2024 with zero case backlog, after 31 years of service.
The President will appoint the next Ombudsman from a shortlist by the Judicial and Bar Council. The Ombudsman serves a non-renewable seven-year term and is tasked with investigating complaints against government officials, promoting public service integrity, and ensuring accountability.
