Malacañang upholds dismissal of Overall Deputy Ombudsman Carandang
MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the President has upheld the dismissal of Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Carandang who landed in the crosshairs of President Rodrigo Duterte for a probe into his alleged hidden wealth.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra confirmed this in a message to Philstar.com. He said: “The Office of the President denied [Carandang’s motion for reconsideration] last week."
A copy of the Palace ruling, however, has yet to be made public as of this story's posting.
Duterte wealth probe
The Office of the President, in an order dated July 30, 2018, said that it found Carandang “liable for graft and corruption and betrayal of public trust.”
The dismissal stemmed from a complaint filed by lawyers Eligio Mallari and Manuelito Luna, who is currently a Presidential Anti-Corruption Commissioner, in October 2017.
The two accused Carandang of corruption for causing “undue injury to any party, including the government,” as well as for giving “unwarranted benefits” through “manifest partiality” and for “divulging valuable information of a confidential character.”
The complaint involved Carandang’s media interview where he was quoted as saying that his office had already received the bank transaction record of the president’s family from 2006 to 2016 from the Anti-Money Laundering Council—a statement that was later denied by the money laundering watchdog.
In January 2018, Malacañang ordered a 90-day suspension against Carandang after it had found that the deputy ombudsman committed grave dishonesty for misuse of confidential information and disclosing false information, violating Section 3e of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The presidential office in its ruling in July said that Carandang “was clearly only interested to broadcast an information adverse to the President. His keeping mum about an information that was favourable to the President clearly amounted to manifest partiality.”
Carandang’s transgression of the laws on graft and corruption, and betrayal of public trust “gravely affect his fitness to remain in public office,” said Malacañang.
The Office of the Ombudsman has since terminated its probe into the alleged hidden wealth of Duterte “after the Anti-Money Laundering Council declined to provide a report or confirmation on the requested vital data.”
Complaints against Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao Rodolfo Elman and members of his fact-finding investigation unit, named as respondents by Mallari and Luna, were dismissed due to lack of substantial evidence.
Office of the President jurisdiction
Carandang, in his appeal, challenged the jurisdiction of the Office of the President.
The suspension order resulted in a tug of powers between the executive branch and the Office of the Ombudsman.
When the presidential office first ordered Carandang’s suspension, then Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales put her foot down and said she would not enforce it.
The Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling on Jan. 28, 2014, held that Section 8(2) of The Ombudsman Act of 1989 was unconstitutional by granting disciplinary jurisdiction to the president over a deputy ombudsman as it violates the independence of the Office of the Ombudsman.
Section 8(2) of RA 6770 states that "A Deputy, or the Special Prosecutor, may be removed from office by the President for any of the grounds provided for the removal of the Ombudsman, and after due process."
The ruling has already been entered into the SC’s book of judgment, deeming it final.
Ombudsman Samuel Martires in an August 2018 interview said that should the Office of the President junk Carandang’s motion for reconsideration, he would have “no choice” but to implement the dismissal order.
The ombudsman, however, added that it would still depend on Carandang.
“I don’t think he’s that hard-headed. I see him as a very reasonable guy. I knew him since I was in the Sandiganbayan. I think ODO Carandang will just follow what the law provides,” said Martires in 2018.
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