Bagumbayan Party presidential candidate Sen. Richard Gordon said the Ombudsman should be elected by the people to ensure impartiality in the crackdown against corruption.

Gordon said he wants the next Ombudsman elected instead of nominated and appointed by the president to dispel any doubt on the impartiality and loyalty of the government graft-buster.

“The Ombudsman should be elected not appointed. The Supreme Court should nominate two names.

Dun pipili ang mga tao. Walang kampanyahan. The nominees would only present their curriculum vitae, which would be the electorate's basis in choosing the Ombudsman,” he said.

“Kasi ngayon kaklase ni Mike Arroyo yung Ombudsman kaya walang nakukulong. If I were President, I wouldn’t appoint my wife’s classmate,” he added.

Gordon first made the recommendation in the committee report issued by the Senate blue ribbon panel, which he chairs, after the panel’s investigation on the P728-million fertilizer fund scam allegedly engineered by former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante.

He reproached Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and called for her resignation over her apparent inaction on the fertilizer fund scam.