President Benigno Aquino III in his State of the Nation Address yesterday announced the appointment of retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales as the country’s new ombudsman.

When she takes office, the president said “we will have an honest-to-goodness anti-corruption office, not one that condones the corruption and abuses in government.”

The president said he expects that this year “we will have filed our first major case against the corrupt and their accomplices. And these will be real cases, with strong evidence and clear testimonies, which will lead to the punishment of the guilty.”

MANILA - The Philippines has begun to win its war against endemic corruption, President Benigno Aquino said yesterday as he outlined more cases of alleged massive graft under his predecessor's rule.

In his second annual "State of the Nation Address", Aquino said the country is now  enjoying direct benefits of the anti-corruption crusade, with fewer people going hungry, the unemployment rate dropping and stock market climbing.

"We are steering our government in a clear direction," Aquino told a joint sitting of congress.

More than 500 protesters gave President Benigno Aquino III a failing grade in his first year as chief executive at two rallies in Bacolod City yesterday before he delivered his State of the Nation Address.

About 150 protestors joined the morning rally led by the Kabataan Partylist and 400 joined the afternoon protest led by Bayan Muna-Negros at the Bacolod City public plaza, Police Officer 1 Troy Fegidero said.

Julius Dagatan Kabataan Partylist vice president for Visayas, in the protest held by the KP yesterday morning said, the country needs social transformation, land reform, and nationalization to address the crises in education.