Ombudsman Morales won’t suspend deputy over Duterte’s alleged bank records

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on Wednesday said she would "not enforce" the 90-day suspension issued by the Office of the President against her deputy, Melchor Arthur Carandang, for his disclosure of the alleged bank records of President Rodrigo Duterte and his family.

In a press statement, Morales said the actions against the Overall Deputy Ombudsman forced her to break her silence over an "unconstitutional" disciplinary action.

"The recent spate of events poses a great cause for concern. With the institutional significance and national interest involved, the Ombudsman is constrained to now state her position on the matter," Morales said.

"The Ombudsman will thus not allow herself to betray her sworn duty to uphold the Constitution by recognizing what is patently unconstitutional as ordained by the Supreme Court," she added.

Malacañang on Monday said Carandang has been charged and put under preventive suspension for 90 days.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in a briefing said that the Office of the Executive Secretary has formally charged Carandang with grave misconduct and grave dishonesty for the unauthorized disclosures of the alleged bank transactions of President Rodrigo Duterte and his family.

The suspension came following complaints separately filed last year by lawyers Manuelito Luna and Eligio Mallari and former lawmakers Glenn Chiong and Jacinto Paras.

SC ruling

Citing a Supreme Court ruling in 2014, Morales said previous suspensions issued by the Office of the President against deputy ombudsmen have been deemed unconstitutional.

"The Supreme Court categorically declared unconstitutional the administrative disciplinary jurisdiction of the President over deputy ombudsmen," Morales said in a statement.

"The Ombudsman cannot, therefore, seriously place at risk the independence of the very Office which she has pledged to protect on the strength of the constitutional guarantees which the High Court has upheld," she added.

Morales said she will not allow the suspension of Carandang "to betray her sworn duty to uphold the Constitution by recognizing what is patently unconstitutional as ordained by the Supreme Court."

"It has become clear that the act of the Office of the President in taking cognizance of the complaints against the Overall Deputy Ombudsman and ordering his preventive suspension was not an inadvertent error but a clear affront to the Supreme Court and an impairment of the constitutionally enshrined independence of the Office of the Ombudsman," she added. —NB, GMA News