PRESS RELEASE
22 JULY 2026
OMB Remulla to legal interns: PH at a crossroads, youth must help shape culture of integrity
QUEZON CITY, Philippines — Declaring that the Philippines is at a defining moment in history, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla called on the country’s next generation of lawyers to help steer the nation toward a culture of integrity.
Speaking at the graduation of the first batch of the Ombudsman’s Legal Internship Program, Ombudsman Remulla said today’s young Filipinos play a decisive role in answering one of the country’s most pressing questions: whether corruption can still be overcome.
“We are at the crossroads of finding our identities of Filipinos. Ito bang korapsyon na ito, maaayos ba natin ito? Magkakaroon ba tayo ng leksyon? Magbabago ba ang ating bansa? O ganito na lang ba pang habang panahon ang ating lupang hinirang?” OMB Remulla said.
OMB Remulla said the interns’ decision to spend part of their legal education inside the country’s constitutional anti-corruption body gives him hope that more young professionals are prepared to take part in nation-building.
“When we opened our doors here, it was because we know that it’s going to be the young people who will actually matter in this fight against corruption,” OMB Remulla said.
“If we’re able to recreate a culture or reinvent the culture of the Filipino professional and make them value the work that we do here, then we succeeded already,” he added.
Almost a year into the investigations of anomalous government projects, OMB Remulla stressed that the Office does not see itself as the country’s savior nor the messiah.
Rather, its role is to faithfully perform the mandate and keep corrupt actors at bay.
“Hindi tayo pwedeng mabalandra dahil may mga taong maiitim ang balak. It’s not that we want to become the saviors of this country but the fact that we do our job should be enough to make this country move forward,” OMB Remulla stressed.
OMB Remulla also added that every successful effort of the Office brings Filipinos closer to a society where corruption is unacceptable and should never be a norm.
“The ultimate victory, as I always said before, is that we will render ourselves obsolete na hindi na kailangan ang Ombudsman later on because the culture is very strong. When people know that it’s not alright to be corrupt, di ba? Hindi siya alright, hindi siya okay. Hindi siya dapat tinotolerate, hindi siya tinutularan,” he said.
The Ombudsman also urged the graduates to carry the lessons they learned beyond the walls of the Office and continue contributing ideas that can strengthen the country’s fight against corruption.
Forty students from different law schools all over the country embarked on a three-week program into the OMB’s core activities like fact-finding and case build-up, criminal and administrative procedures, and prosecution of cases before the Sandiganbayan.#
