Professional Background

Prior to joining the government, Mr. Marcelo was a Senior Partner and Head of the Litigation Department. While still in private practice, he was already known in legal circles as one of the country’s top litigators, despite maintaining a low profile. He caught public attention during the impeachment proceedings against then President Joseph Estrada when he was chosen to handle the presentation of the prosecution’s star witness.

In 2001, Mr. Marcelo accepted an appointment as Solicitor General. As head of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), an office separate and independent from the Department of Justice, he gave exceptional focus on the much neglected ill-gotten wealth cases against the Marcoses and their cronies. His efforts led to the successful recovery of ill-gotten wealth amounting to billions of pesos. Having won all of OSG’s major cases during his tenure, he is considered as one of the most successful Solicitors General in our history.

These accomplishments led to his subsequent appointment as Ombudsman. Apart from being the youngest ever to be appointed to the position, Mr. Marcelo’s work in the fight against graft and corruption earned local and international recognition. Faced with severe lack of resources, he led a serious and effective crusade against corruption, earning praises from foreign and local media, including the Philippines’ normally critical newspapers. The Washington Post stated that Mr. Marcelo “restored credibility to that organization.” Mr. Marcelo also led the legal panel that successfully prosecuted and secured the conviction of former President Joseph Estrada for plunder.

Marcelo is the incumbent Executive Secretary of the Asian Development Bank Administrative Tribunal and a Professor of Evidence and Trustee of Arellano University Law School.

A recipient of the Crispin Llamado Scholarship Award, Mr. Marcelo graduated among the top ten of his class from the University of the Philippines College of Law and placed 5th in the 1979 Bar Examinations. He is a member of the Pi Gamma Mu International Social Science Honor Society and the Order of the Purple Feather Honor Society. He previously served as the Chairperson of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines’ National Committee on Legal Aid and head of its Task Force on Child Abuse, as well as the Executive Editor of its Law Journal. He is currently the First Vice-President of the Philippine Bar Association, the country’s oldest and largest voluntary organization of lawyers.