Photos: President Aquino accepts the resignation letter personally handed by former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez
President Benigno Simeon Aquino III accepts the resignation letter personally handed by former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez in a brief meeting at the Private Office, Premier Guest House, Malacanang Friday April 29, 2011.
The resignation of the Ombudsman is 10-days before the opening of the Impeachment Trial against Gutierrez in the Senate. On March 22, 2011, members of the House of Representatives voted 211 – 46 to impeached Gutierrez.
Here is the copy of her resignation letter:
The president then issued a statement:
This morning, Merceditas Gutierrez personally submitted to me her resignation as our country’s Ombudsman, effective May 6.
Her action has spared the country from a long and divisive impeachment process that would have distracted our lawmakers from dealing with the many problems we face today.
It also paves the way for the appointment of a new Ombudsman.
I thank the House of Representatives. I now urge the Judicial and Bar Council to begin the search for a new Ombudsman. With the support of the public, we can now proceed more decisively in making government officials more accountable to their bosses, the Filipino people.
Thank you.
(Photo by: Jay Morales / Malacanang Photo Bureau)
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Noemi Lardizabal-Dado
Noemi Lardizabal-Dado is a Content Strategist with over 16 years experience in blogging, content management, citizen advocacy and media literacy and over 26 years in web development. Otherwise known as @MomBlogger on social media, she believes in making a difference in the lives of her children by advocating social change for social good. She is a co-founder and a member of the editorial board of Blog Watch . She is a resource speaker on media literacy, social media , blogging, digital citizenship, good governance, transparency, parenting, women’s rights and wellness, and cyber safety. Her personal blogs such as aboutmyrecovery.com (parenting) , pinoyfoodblog.com (recipes), techiegadgets.com (gadgets) and benguetarabica.coffee keep her busy outside of Blog Watch. Disclosure: I am an advocate. I am NOT neutral. I will NOT give social media mileage to members of political clans, epal, a previous candidate for the same position and those I believe are a waste of taxpayers' money. I do not support or belong to any political party. I was part of accredited media covering the Office of the Vice President and Leni Robredo as she ran as a presidential aspirant in the 2022 National and local elections. On August 5, 2021, YouTube announced that I was selected as one of 50 Program participants of its Creator Program for Independent Journalists She was a Senior Consultant for ALL media engagements for the PCOO-led Committee on Media Affairs & Strategic Communications (CMASC) under the ASEAN 2017 National Organizing Council from January 4 -July 5, 2017. Having been an ASEAN advocate since 2011, she has written extensively about the benefits of the ASEAN community and as a region of opportunities on Blog Watch and aboutmyrecovery.com. Organization affiliation includes Consortium on Democracy and Disinformation Updated June 6, 2022