SC asked to void executive clemency granted to Mabilog

A former Iloilo City councilor has filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) seeking to void the executive clemency granted to former Iloilo City Jed Mabilog.

In a 16-page petition, former Iloilo Councilor Plaridel Nava II asked the High Court to declare the executive clemency granted by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin to Mabilog as null and void for allegedly violating the 1987 Constitution.

He also asked the SC to prohibit Bersamin, or any person or agent acting singly or collectively with him, from enforcing the executive clemency. 

Nava argued that the executive clemency encroaches upon the independence of the Office of the Ombudsman, violates procedural due process, and violates Section 19, Article VII of the Constitution.

In January, Malacañang confirmed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. granted executive clemency to Mabilog.

The Presidential Communications Office said the executive clemency was in relation to the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman last October 23, 2017, dismissing Mabilog after finding him guilty of serious dishonesty for his failure to explain his alleged questionable wealth worth P8.9 million from 2012 to 2013.

In his petition, Mabilog argued that the Ombudsman is not under the control and supervision of the president.

“[T]he Office of the Ombudsman is an independent constitutional body exercising quasi-judicial functions. Its legal existence and personality is separate and distinct from executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government,” the petition read.

“Its decisions, resolutions, and legal orders are not even appealable to the Office of the President,” it added.

Aside from this, Nava said that there is no indication that the power of the President to grant executive clemency may be extended to administrative sanctions.

For his part, Mabilog acknowledged the petition filed against him, but said that he saw no reason to comment on the matter further.

“If there is anyone who should be asked about the legality or validity of this grant, it should be the Executive Secretary, not me,” Mabilog said in a statement.

“But to say that this is getting under my skin? Nothing. For me, the clemency is final and is the sole prerogative of the President,” he added.—LDF, GMA Integrated News