Morales says Deputy Ombudsman still not suspended but under probe over Duterte’s ire

Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang has been placed under an investigation to assess whether he violated any laws during his probe on the alleged ill-gotten wealth of President Rodrigo Duterte and the First Family, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales has said.

Morales also said the Office of the Ombudsman's Internal Affairs Board is also investigating Deputy Ombudsman for Visayas Paul Elmer Clemente.

"There’s a pending investigation arising from an alleged questionable action by the Overall Deputy Ombudsman and the Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas... to show that indeed it is the Office of the Ombudsman that has jurisdiction over these case[s]," Morales said in a forum on justice and integrity on Tuesday.

Morales said the motu propio investigation against Carandang was conducted “because the President was saying that he breached confidentiality.”

Clemente was accused of ordering the dismissal of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo twice over the same issue of alleged misuse of calamity funds.

 Carandang had drawn the ire of Duterte after he announced that the Ombudsman has found sufficient basis to probe the alleged multi-billion-peso wealth of the First Family.

Carandang then said investigators have recovered the bank records of Duterte's sons, resigned Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo and Sebastian "Baste," his joint accounts with his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, and accounts with his common-law wife, Honeylet Avancena, and their daughter, Kitty.

Malacañang later placed Carandang on a 90-day suspension after he was charged with grave misconduct and grave dishonesty for the unauthorized disclosures of the alleged bank transactions of the Duterte family.

However, Morales said she would "not enforce" the suspension order against her deputy due to its unconstitutionality and threat on the independence of the Ombudsman.

A member of the audience asked Morales whether she had enforced the suspension since her defiant stance in January.

"I did not implement the order, that’s very clear. I did not implement the order. In light of prevailing jurisprudence, it is the Ombudsman, not the President, who can discipline the Ombudsman," Morales said.

She said the Ombudsman would file appropriate criminal and administrative charges against Carandang and Clemente if they found sufficient evidence.

“If there’s any liability, we fault them if there is. If there’s none, then sorry,” Morales said. —NB, GMA News