Palace: Deputy Ombudsman Carandang given due process

Malacañang on Wednesday said Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang was given the opportunity to refute the administrative complaints against him that became the basis for his dismissal from the service.

Carandang was found liable for graft and corruption and betrayal of public trust after he disclosed in September last year the alleged bank transactions of President Rodrigo Duterte and his family in the course of the anti-graft body’s probe into the supposed ill-gotten wealth of the Dutertes.

For Malacañang, Carandang’s act of making public statements about allegations in an ongoing investigation were in breach of his duty to protect confidential information.

“This decision was reached after giving Mr. Carandang the appropriate opportunity to respond to the charges made against him,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.

According to the decision signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on July 30, Carandang did not address the issues raised against him by the complainants including Labor Undersecretary Jacinto Paras and Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission Commissioner Manuelito Luna.

Carandang opted to question the jurisdiction of Malacañang over the complaints, citing the Supreme Court decision in 2014 that voided the power of the President to discipline the deputy ombudsman.

“He asserts that the President has no disciplinary jurisdiction over a deputy ombudsman because it violates the constitutionally enshrined independence of the Ombudsman,” the decision stated.

The Palace rejected this argument, saying it can discipline Carandang because he is a presidential appointee.

“Furthermore, although Section 5, Article XI of the Constitution created the Office of the Ombudsman as an ‘independent’ office, this independence is not anathema to the Office’s disciplinary authority over the Deputy Ombudsman,” the decision read.

“Surely, such independence includes freedom to effectively discharge their constitutional duties, which necessarily includes organizational separation and fiscal autonomy,” it said.

“However, the same does not, as it should, obviate the possibility of having an external disciplining authority over some of its officials pursuant to the checks and balances principle.”

In a chance interview with reporters on Wednesday, newly-appointed Ombudsman Samuel Martires said he will decide on whether to enforce the dismissal or not once he reads the decision.

"I have yet to assume office and read the decision," Martires said.

He will assume office as Ombudsman on Monday, August 6, as his retirement at the Supreme Court takes effect on Friday.

GMA News Online is still reaching out to Carandang for comment as or posting time.

Carandang's predecessor

Malacañang also said it had taken jurisdiction over the complaint against Carandang’s predecessor, Orlando Casimiro, in connection with the supposed procedural lapses in the handling of the case against Philippine Air Force officials involving P89 million in alleged ghost deliveries of supplies.

The Aquino administration dismissed the complaint against Casimiro and another prosecutor in June 2011, which was affirmed by the Court of Appeals in November 2012 and the SC in February 2016.

“Clearly, the Supreme Court not only confirmed this Office’s assumption of jurisdiction over the case of ODO Casimiro, but also concurred with this Office’s ruling,” the Palace said.

“Being a more recent decision in comparison  to the Gonzales case [SC ruling cited by Carandang], this Office considers the same to be the prevailing case law on the matter of the President’s authority to discipline a deputy ombudsman.” —With a report from Joseph Tristan Roxas/KG, GMA News