Palace confident SC will reverse ruling on disciplining deputy Ombudsman

Malacañang on Monday insisted that it made the right move when it charged and suspended Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang after he released the alleged bank records of President Rodrigo Duterte and members of his family.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque expressed confidence that the Office of the Executive Secretary was confident that it could cause the High Tribunal to reverse a 2012 ruling that barred Malacañang from imposing discipline on a deputy Ombudsman.

"The Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang is free to seek legal remedy regarding the ‘Resolution and Order ’ of the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES) before a competent court," Roque said.

"The OES, however, stands by its decision to formally charge and suspend Overall Deputy Ombudsman Carandang, pursuant to the President’s broad powers to discipline all non-impeachable presidential appointees," he added.

Critics like Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and Tindig Pilipinas group called the suspension "unconstitutional" because of the 2012 Supreme Court ruling that reversed the Office of the President's dismissal of former Deputy Ombudsman Emilio Gonzales III in relation to the Aug. 23, 2010 Manila hostage crisis.

The SC even upheld the decision in 2014 after the Office of the President filed a motion for reconsideration.

In a text message to reporters, Roque said that Duterte's office wanted to revisit the ruling.

"OP [is] confident it can reverse [decision] anew," he said.

Roque earlier announced that the OES on January 26 decided to charge Carandang with grave misconduct and grave dishonesty for the unauthorized disclosures of the alleged bank transactions of President Rodrigo Duterte and his family.

Carandang has yet to release a comment on the suspension order.

Carandang announced on Sept. 27, 2017 that the Office of the Ombudsman has started a probe on the wealth of the First Family based on the complaint of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

Trillanes claimed that the basis for the complaint against Duterte were bank records from the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

Carandang then claimed that the Office of the Ombudsman is in possession of bank records that show the flow of money through deposits and withdrawals from Duterte's sons, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo and Sebastian "Baste," and his joint accounts with his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

The AMLC, however, denied the following day that it had released such documents to the Ombudsman. —NB, GMA News