Metro Manila, Philippines – A “fully digital” ombudsman and other reforms in the office will be institutionalized by February next year in a bid to strengthen the crackdown against corruption, chief anti-graft buster Boying Remulla said.
Remulla bared on Tuesday, Dec. 9, the reforms included in his national strategy for the Office of the Ombudsman, for completion four months into his term.
“Corruption thrives where data is weak and paper trails disappear; that is why we are building a fully digital Ombudsman,” he said during the 2025 “Sikhay Laban sa Korapsyon” event in Pasig City.
Remulla said the digitalization efforts will entail an integrated statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth systems, digital forensics, tamper-proof records, artificial intelligence-supported verification, and secure investigative workflows.
He said the Office of the Ombudsman is creating a marshal among its ranks, which he deemed a “long-overdue reform.”
Remulla said the ombudsman marshal will be their “modern enforcement arm.”
“These marshals will serve cyberwarrants, secure evidence, enforce orders, protect our investigators, and ensure that no one interferes with the work of justice,” he said.
Remulla said the ombudsman’s office will be strengthening partnerships with government agencies, including its co-constitutional office: the Commission on Elections and Commission on Audit.
He urged the public to share evidence in relation to corruption cases.
“Crowdsourcing is no longer noise, it is now an evidence-gathering tool,” he said.
Remulla was justice secretary before the president appointed him as the seventh ombudsman with a term that ends in 2032.
His office acts on graft and corruption complaints against government officials.
