Solgen chides Ombudsman over Carandang case

SOLICITOR General Jose Calida on Friday, February 2, slammed Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales for saying that President Rodrigo Duterte disrespected the Supreme Court (SC) when he ordered the suspension of Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang.

In a statement, Calida said Morales also once failed to consider the prevailing jurisprudence of the SC when she decided to charge former Makati Mayor Jejomar “Junjun” Binay Jr. over the anomalous Makati parking building.

“When the Ombudsman skewered then Mayor Junjun Binay by finding him guilty of graft over the Makati parking building, did she respect the Aguinaldo doctrine which was the prevailing jurisprudence at that time?” he said.

He continued: “No. Now she chides the Office of the President for ordering the preventive suspension of Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Carandang which she caracterized as a clear affront to the Supreme Court. Look who’s talking?”

The Aguinaldo doctrine, conceived by the SC in its decision in 1959, states that a public official cannot be removed for administrative misconduct committed during his prior term since his reelection to office operates as a condonation to his previous misconduct.

Morales on Wednesday said she will not betray her sworn duty to uphold the Constitution by recognizing Malacañang’s order which she claimed to be “patently unconstitutional.”

She also said that the Palace’s move was a clear insult to the judiciary’s independence.

Calida, in answer to this, said Morales has invoked a “distorted” interpretation of the Ombudsman’s independence to shield her office from accountability.

“This is a traversity of justice,” he said.

Calida noted that when Morales recused herself in deciding the plunder complaint against President Duterte, a legal and ethical vaccum were created and these were not decided by

the Supreme Court in its 2014 ruling. Calida pointed out that Carandang could not be disciplined by neither Morales nor the other deputy ombudsman as the former inhibited herself from deciding the complaint, while the latter cannot do the same for lack of legal basis.

Calida asked: “A deeply divided SC may have favored deputy Ombudsman Emilio Gonzales then, but who will now discipline ODO Carandang who was acting under Ombudsman Morales’ fiat?”

Calida said the President was “forced” to exercise his residual authority to discipline officials under the executive department because of this vaccuum.

“The Office of the Ombudsman is not a fourth branch of government,” he stressed.

Carandang was placed under a 90-day preventive suspension by Malacañang on Monday after he was charged for grave misconduct and grave dishonesty over unauthorized dislosures of the Duterte family’s bank transactions.

This stemmed from his statement that the Ombudsman has in its possession the bank transactions of the first family from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), which the council later denied. SunStar Philippines