\n The Philippines' top anti-corruption prosecutor, one of the few remaining critics of President Rodrigo Duterte in government, retired on Thursday, appealing for \"strong institutions\" over strong leaders.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, 77, finishes her seven-year term during which she earned Duterte's ire for criticising his brutal drug war and for her office's investigation into his alleged secret bank accounts.\n<\/p>\n
\n Duterte, who accused Morales of \"selective justice\" and conspiring with opposition figures to oust him, last year threatened to have the retired Supreme Court justice impeached while launching tirades against her.\n<\/p>\n
\n But a defiant Morales dismissed Duterte's allegations as \"fake news\", saying that his threats never intimidated her from doing her job.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I know I am right in my own work so why should I be scared,\" Morales told AFP days before her retirement.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"As long as we have strong institutions, we don't need strong people to run the government\", she added, emphasising the importance of independent bodies like her office.\n<\/p>\n
\n Duterte, 73, has launched an unprecedented crackdown on drugs that has left thousands dead, sparking criticism from rights groups who say he may be orchestrating a crime against humanity.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Filipino leader has lashed out at critics, including Senator Leila de Lima -- jailed over drug charges she says were fabricated -- and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno who was ousted in May.\n<\/p>\n
\n Opposition leaders have said these moves -- along with attempts to discredit the country's main rights agency -- are part of Duterte's scorched-earth tactics to silence critics and weaken democratic institutions.\n<\/p>\n
\n Morales, who was appointed by Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino, in 2011 to head the anti-graft watchdog, angered the president when she criticised his pronouncements on killings last year.\n<\/p>\n
\n Their spat intensified last January when Morales defied Duterte's order to suspend her deputy for allegedly leaking his bank records, saying the president's directive violated the constitution.\n<\/p>\n
\n Her agency was then investigating allegations that Duterte failed to disclose 211 million pesos ($3.9 million) in secret bank accounts when he was a presidential candidate.\n<\/p>\n
\n The ombudsman said in February it had terminated the probe after the central bank's Anti-Money Laundering Council refused to cooperate.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Ombudsman Morales is a significant voice, a strong woman and a person with integrity,\" Gladstone Cuarteros, assistant professor of political science at the De La Salle University in Manila, told AFP.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"With her retirement, another critical voice is softened but not silenced.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Morales was honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay Award -- often described as Asia's Nobel Prize -- in 2016 for her diligence in prosecuting high-ranking corrupt officials.\n<\/p>\n
\n The leading candidate to replace her is a Supreme Court justice appointed by Duterte and who has voted to uphold his major policies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Philippines' top anti-corruption prosecutor, one of the few remaining critics of President Rodrigo Duterte in government, retired on Thursday, appealing for \"strong institutions\" over strong leaders. Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, 77, finishes her seven-year term during which she earned Duterte's ire for criticising his brutal drug war and for her office's investigation into his alleged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-38136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n