36 Facts About Conchita Carpio-Morales

Conchita Carpio-Morales has secured appointments from five Philippine presidents: Ferdinand Marcos, Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and Benigno Aquino III.

Conchita Carpio-Morales "Chit" Claudio Carpio was born on June 19,1941, in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, to Lucas Dumlao Carpio Sr.

Conchita Carpio-Morales's father was a member of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, while her mother was Catholic.

Conchita Carpio-Morales said that she wanted to be a princess and perform in front of people, especially during fiestas.

Conchita Carpio-Morales says she did not consciously plan to be a lawyer, but grew up surrounded by law books and the Official Gazette.

Conchita Carpio-Morales attended Paoay Elementary School and spent her high school years at the Paoay North Institute.

Conchita Carpio-Morales achieved the honour as elementary and high school valedictorian.

Conchita Carpio-Morales was the only one among her six siblings who did not study in a Catholic school.

Conchita Carpio-Morales then earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, in 1964.

Conchita Carpio-Morales joined the Department of Justice in 1971 as Special Assistant to then Justice Secretary Vicente Abad Santos, her former law professor and long-time Dean of the UP College of Law.

Conchita Carpio-Morales mentioned that it was hard for her to find role models among women lawyers, because there was so few of them.

Conchita Carpio-Morales worked at the DOJ for almost 12 years.

In 2002, upon the unanimous endorsement of the members of the Judicial and Bar Council, Conchita Carpio-Morales was appointed to the Supreme Court as Supreme Court Associate Justice by then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Conchita Carpio-Morales was only the tenth woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court.

Conchita Carpio-Morales officially accepted the request, and administered the oath-taking of President Benigno Aquino III and Vice President Jejomar Binay on June 30,2010, at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Manila.

Conchita Carpio-Morales is the first woman justice to administer the oath of office to an incoming President of the Philippines.

When Conchita Carpio-Morales assumed office in 2011, she inherited a caseload of 11,000 pending criminal and administrative cases.

Under the leadership of Conchita Carpio-Morales, she professionalized and upgraded OMB's capabilities; revolutionized its anti-corruption program to include the designation of deputy ombudsmen for environmental concerns and for investment-related problems; and improved its responsiveness to calls for public assistance.

Conchita Carpio-Morales has set a target of zero backlog in the investigation or adjudication of cases and disposition of all requests for assistance, and she expects to hit the target by 2018.

Conchita Carpio-Morales has prioritized the filing of cases against high-ranking officials, and has imposed strict administrative sanctions on high officials, including filing cases against a former president; a former vice-president; incumbent senators, congressmen, and governors.

Conchita Carpio-Morales is the first Ombudsman to use the waiver in the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth as a basis to secure bank records in impeaching one of the country's highest officials.

Conchita Carpio-Morales advocated the passage of legislation to strengthen the OMB's investigative, disciplinary, asset recovery, and preventive powers.

Conchita Carpio-Morales demanded that the action papers be understandable to laypersons.

Conchita Carpio-Morales admits that being the Ombudsman is the most challenging job that she has ever held.

Three months before stepping down, Conchita Carpio-Morales called on the people during a conference with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to "don't be silent amid abuse", referring to president Rodrigo Duterte's Philippine Drug War, abuse reports due to martial rule in Mindanao, and other government crackdowns.

Conchita Carpio-Morales comes from a family of lawyers, which include her father, three of his brothers, and her cousin, former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.

Conchita Carpio-Morales has two grandchildren from Bert whom she dotes on.

Conchita Carpio-Morales has no personal social media accounts, but her staff lets her know when she goes viral.

Conchita Carpio-Morales says that she appreciates reading positive comments from netizens on social media, and is happy whenever the Supreme Court and the appellate courts concur with her actions as Ombudsman, as these stand as a testament to her hard work.

Conchita Carpio-Morales is an antique lover who started collecting antiques in 1971 while working for the Department of Justice.

Conchita Carpio-Morales has said that her favorite foreign destination is Prague, and that she enjoys going to museums when she travels.

Conchita Carpio-Morales is related through marriage to former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

In 2011, Conchita Carpio-Morales was honored as one of the Ten Outstanding Manilans, an award given to persons who have immensely contributed to the benefit and development of Manila and its residents, and whose achievements in their respective fields have given prestige to the country's capital.

Conchita Carpio-Morales was then chosen by the Philippine Daily Inquirer as 2014's Filipino of the Year, together with then-Justice Secretary Leila De Lima and then-Commission on Audit Chair Grace Pulido-Tan, was chosen.

Conchita Carpio-Morales received an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of the Philippines on June 27,2016.

In 2017, Conchita Carpio-Morales received Quezon City's Tandang Sora Award, in recognition of exhibiting the same values as Philippine heroine Melchora Aquino, who was known by the monicker Tandang Sora.