Senators question authority of Ombudsman to dismiss Villanueva

Several senators on Monday questioned the authority of the Office of the Ombudsman to dismiss Senator Joel Villanueva over an act allegedly committed during his term as a party-list congressman.

“To me, it’s a valid case for Senator Villanueva to bring to the Court of Appeals. The issue is the authority of the Ombudsman to make the penalty effective while the respondent, Villannueva, is already a senator,” Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon told reporters in an interview.

During the plenary session, Drilon said the Ombudsman investigated the alleged misuse of Villanueva’s pork barrel funds when he was already the director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

Villanueva was the representative of CIBAC party-list prior to his appointment as TESDA head.

“The imposed penalty while he was director general of TESDA and the accusatory penalty of perpetual disqualification of holding public office is moot,” Drilon said.

Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel had decided to refer to the Senate Committee on Rules the Ombudsman’s communication on its decision to dismiss Villanueva.

Pimentel said there was no hurry to implement the dismissal order as Villanueva has filed a motion for reconsideration before the Ombudsman.

Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, chairman of the rules committee, asked Pimentel how they were supposed to interpret Section 21 of Republic Act 6770 or The Ombudsman Act.

“The Office of the Ombudsman shall have disciplinary authority over all elective and appointive officials of the Government and its subdivisions, instrumentalities and agencies, including Members of the Cabinet, local government, government-owned or controlled corporations and their subsidiaries, except over officials who may be removed only by impeachment or over Members of Congress, and the Judiciary,” Section 21 states.

Pimentel deferred the matter still to the rules committee, saying all discussion should be brought to the panel, and not the plenary.

Villanueva, for his part, said that while the Ombudsman has no power to dismiss him, he will abide by the judicial process.

“Binasa ko din yung Ombudsman Act …hindi naman kapangyarihan ng Ombudsman na mag-dismiss but again, just the same, nirerespeto natin ang proseso at buong-buo ang loob natin na makakamit natin ang hustisya,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva was ordered dismissed after the Ombudsman found him guilty of grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the interest of service over his alleged involvement in a P10-million pork barrel scam as a party-list lawmaker.

The dismissal order against Villanueva was approved after the Ombudsman found him and nine others liable for the supposed misuse of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocation in 2008 as the congressional representative of CIBAC party-list.

The senator is set to face trial before the Sandiganbayan for two counts of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act or Republic Act No. 3019, one count each for malversation of public funds and malversation through falsification of public documents. — RSJ, GMA News