Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla walked into office in October 2025 carrying a number that stunned many: a declared net worth of ₱441.7 million.
A figure that marks a more than 2,000% jump from what he owned two decades earlier.
According to documents obtained by GMA Integrated News Research, Remulla’s Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs) reveal the dramatic rise. The team also secured the SALNs of his predecessors, Samuel Martires and Conchita Carpio-Morales, for comparison.
On “24 Oras,” reporter Saleema Refran showed Remulla’s first SALN as Ombudsman—filed in October—confirming the massive expansion of wealth. His real estate alone was valued at ₱83.2 million, with properties spread across Cavite, Las Piñas, Makati, and Baguio.
But it was his personal properties, worth ₱358.8 million, that carried the biggest weight.
A huge portion came from a ₱300-million inheritance from his late father, former Cavite governor Juanito Remulla, who passed away in 2014.
He also listed ₱52 million worth of vehicles, and declared only ₱300,000 in liabilities.
GMA Integrated News Research went further—examining Remulla’s earlier SALNs when he served as a Cavite congressman.
His 2005 SALN, filed a year after he was elected, showed a net worth of just ₱20.6 million.
Twenty years later, that number had grown by ₱421.1 million—a rise of 2,041%.
How does this compare to past Ombudsmen?
The research team also reviewed the SALNs of Ombudsman Remulla’s predecessors.
In 2021, former Ombudsman Samuel Martires placed strict limits on SALN access. But in October 2025, Remulla lifted those restrictions, opening the door to transparency once again.
Martires, upon stepping down in July 2025, declared a net worth of ₱78.1 million.
His real estate holdings were modest—just ₱1.55 million—including homes in Quezon City, Baguio, and Samar. Most of his wealth came from ₱48.3 million in cash and deposits, plus ₱23.5 million in corporate shares he inherited.
He reported zero liabilities.
When Martires first became Ombudsman in 2018, his net worth was ₱41.7 million.
Over seven years, it grew by more than ₱36 million—an 87% increase.
Before Martires, Conchita Carpio-Morales ended her term in July 2018 with a declared net worth of ₱80.1 million.
She listed ₱19.6 million in real estate, mostly condominium units in Taguig, Makati, Manila, and Baguio.
Her personal assets—cash, investments, pension, and retirement benefits—totaled ₱54.7 million, and she also had no liabilities.
When she first assumed office in 2011, she had a net worth of ₱40.7 million.
By the end of her term, she had nearly doubled it—an increase of 96.6%, or ₱39.3 million.
From 2005 to 2025, the numbers show a dramatic shift—from a ₱20-million lawmaker to a ₱441-million Ombudsman.
And with the SALN access rules now lifted, the public is seeing the full picture—one document at a time.
