Luistro and Peralta Should Withdraw from DOJ Race

By Atty. Victor C. Avecilla — October 10, 2025

THE recent appointment of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla to the post of Ombudsman has suddenly drawn the interest of several aspirants for the post to be vacated by Remulla.

One aspirant, former Commission on Audit Chairman and current Philippine Competition Commission Chairman Michael Aguinaldo, is manifestly unfit for the post. Public interest is best served if he is not so appointed. This was discussed in my previous essay.

Two more aspirants are just as unfit for the post. One is incumbent Batangas Representative Gerville Luistro. The other is retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta.

The current scandal involving billions of pesos of wasted or stolen public funds by reason of ghost or substandard flood control infrastructure projects all over the country has caused intense public outrage. Taxpayers are aghast at the extent of the corruption on the part of several district engineers in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the involvement of shady, insatiable contractors.

From the available indications revealed by the ongoing congressional investigations on the scandal, it appears that many senators and members of the House of Representatives of the Congress are also involved in this mess. While the names of several senators and representatives have been mentioned already in the course of the investigations, and in the continuing revelations made by the news media, many more names of senators and representatives are forthcoming. It’s just a matter of time.

Precisely how many more members of Congress will be exposed is not known, but because many ghost and substandard flood control infrastructure projects are getting exposed on a daily basis, it is very likely that the number of politicians involved in the scandal will balloon immensely. The public, of course, is alarmed at this development. As expected, the public is beginning to distrust many, if not all, congressional leaders – and rightfully so.

To state the obvious, the last thing the Filipino people need right now is a member of Congress getting appointed the next Secretary of Justice.

The post of Justice Secretary is crucial to the enforcement of penal laws in the Philippines. This is where Luistro enters the picture. Being a member of the current Congress that is fast losing its credibility in the eyes of the Filipino people, Luistro should not be appointed to the post. To appoint Luistro is like rubbing salt on the wound inflicted on the taxpayers by the shameless scandal involving anomalous floor control infrastructure projects of a hitherto unprecedented magnitude. Appointing a legislator the next Justice Secretary is a blatant insult to the people.

A Justice Secretary must be familiar with criminal procedure, and this is possible mainly through years of actual experience as a lawyer handling criminal cases. Prior to his appointment as Justice Secretary and his tenure as a congressman, Remulla had extensive experience as a trial lawyer in many criminal cases.

In contrast, Luistro had a brief stint as an agent in the Bureau of Immigration; as a consultant in the Department of Justice; and as a lawyer of the government. There is no indication of her having extensively handled criminal cases. Just exactly what makes Luistro think she is qualified to be Justice Secretary, despite the duties expected from the position, is a big mystery.

Luistro is known in the House of Representatives for winning under the opposition political party and then immediately shifting her allegiance to the majority party before she assumed office. The last thing the Filipino people need is a political butterfly for a Justice Secretary.

Incidentally, why is Luistro keenly interested in leaving Congress for the executive department of the government? Is the House of Representatives suddenly no longer comfortable for her? Appointing Luistro the next Justice Secretary is not only a bad idea – it will also result in the needless disenfranchisement of the electorate of her congressional district in Batangas. That will be a terrible waste of taxpayers’ hard-earned money.

As for Peralta, his age argues against his appointment. At 73 years old, Peralta should just enjoy his retirement from the Supreme Court. Peralta has enough retirement benefits to last him very comfortably for the rest of his life.

Despite his retirement from the judiciary, Peralta has been providing legal advice to many corporate giants in the country. Like his co-aspirant Aguinaldo, Peralta’s ties to those corporate clients may lead to many conflict of interest situations if Peralta gets appointed Justice Secretary.

At 72, Peralta may end up a facsimile of former Ombudsman Samuel Martires, himself a retired Justice of the Supreme Court when he was appointed Ombudsman in 2018.

Martires is infamous for issuing Memorandum Circular No. 1 which prohibits the public from accessing the Statement of Assets Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) of a government official without the prior written and notarized authorization of the government official concerned. It is absurd to expect a government official to allow the release of his SALN for possible use against him. It’s basic human nature.

Public access to the SALN of a government official is a right guaranteed by the Constitution. Precisely for this reason, no law, much less a mere memorandum circular at that, may override this constitutional mandate. As a retired magistrate of the highest court in the land, Martires is expected to know that. Perhaps, the advancing years had set in on Martirez, and this probably explains why he issued Memorandum Circular No. 1.

Retired Ombudsman Martires is entitled to retirement benefits as Ombudsman. This is addition to his retirement benefits a justice of the Supreme Court. What did the people get in return for those benefits? They got the unconstitutional Memorandum Circular No. 1.

The disastrous experience of the Filipino people with a retiree like Martires getting appointed to an important government post is the best reason against appointing Peralta the next Justice Secretary. ■