DOCTRINE SAVES ABELLANOSA

Court of Appeals deemed that the condonation doctrine applies to the anti-graft case lodged by the Office of the Ombudsman against Cebu City Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa

Businessman Rodrigo Abellanosa managed to return to public office representing Cebu City’s south district after the Court of Appeals agreed that his election into office in 2013 “exonerated” him of his alleged offenses in 2010 and 2011.

This, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling to strike down the Aguinaldo condonation legal doctrine, which former Makati vice mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr. had cited to try to stop his preventive suspension by the Ombudsman in November 2015.

“Differently put, the electorate that voted for him (Abellanosa) for congressman of Cebu City South District comprises wholly those voting for a Cebu City councilor. Thus, the condonation doctrine is applicable in this case,” the CA ruling read.

The 1992 Supreme Court (SC) jurisprudence, known as the Aguinaldo Doctrine, condones the “sins” of reelected public officials.

In resolving the case of then Cagayan Gov. Rodolfo Aguinal- do versus then Local Government Secretary Luis Santos, the SC held that the administrative liability of elected officials becomes moot upon their reelection. Cebu officials who have benefited from the Aguinaldo doctrine include former governor (and now Deputy Speaker) Gwen Garcia, former Lapu-Lapu City mayor Arturo Radaza, and the late former Mandaue City mayor and Provincial Board Member Thadeo Ouano.

In 2015, the high court, however, ruled to uphold the ap- peals court’s power to review and stop orders issued by the office of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales. The anti-graft office had charged Abellanosa with alleged violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and ordered the congressman dismissed from public service for grave misconduct. He was barred from seeking public office and his civil service eligibility was forfeited. Abellanosa had been accused of having an unlawful interest in the City Government’s distribution of P51.065 million in scholarship programs since he was still serving as trustee and president of the Asian College of Technology International Education Foundation Inc. (ACTIEF) in 2011.

He was also a councilor when the Council authorized Mayor Tomas Osmeña in 2010 and then mayor Michael Rama in 2011 to enter into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with ACT under the City’s scholarship program.

Abellanosa signed the MOA in 2010 as trustee and president of ACT. In 2011, he signed the MOA on behalf of ACTIEF. But he had said that he has divested his shares in ACTIEF.

In his pleading, Abellanosa said he did not benefit from the scholarship program as, being a mere trustee of the school board, he had no control on the operations of the school. In the decision, the appeals court pointed out that Abellanosa’s grave misconduct charges became moot after winning in the May 2013 elections. It ruled that the application of condonation doctrine “was made prospective in application.”

“Verily, the application of the condonation doctrine is warranted to forestall any injurious consequences not only on the petitioner’s right to remain in his position but also to his constituents whose votes might be at the risk of being disenfranchised,” read the 10-page decision penned by Associate Justice Geraldine Fiel-Macaraig. /