Dismissal order vs Abellanosa upheld

CEBU, Philippines - Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales has denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Cebu City south district Representative Rodrigo Abellanosa on the anti-graft body’s earlier decision finding him liable for grave misconduct.

Morales, who found the petition without basis and merit to justify reversal of the previous verdict, directed that the dismissal order against Abellanosa “be indorsed to the Congress or its Committee on Ethics for appropriate action.”

“All public servants must exhibit at all times the highest sense of honesty and integrity. The Constitution stresses that a public office is a public trust and public officers must at all times be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice and lead modest lives. Here, respondent (Abellanosa) failed to uphold these tenets,” read the order denying the motion for reconsideration.

The order was penned by Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer I Jess Vincent Dela Pena last February 17, 2015. Morales approved the order on May 6.

The anti-graft body reiterated the cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits, and perpetual disqualification from public office against Abellanosa, whom Morales said could not invoke the Aguinaldo Doctrine in his case because he was not reelected to the same position.

Abellanosa was Cebu City councilor when the alleged offense was committed.

Sought for his comment on the recent development, Abellanosa said he has not received the order yet.

“According to my lawyer in Manila, his office has not received a copy of the Ombudsman’s order. So he casts doubt on the veracity and source of the document,” he told THE FREEMAN.

Abellanosa’s woes started when City Hall employee Philip Banguiran filed last December 2012 an administrative complaint against then city councilor Abellanosa, who was the trustee-president of Asian College of Technology and/or Asian ACT International Educational Foundation that time.

As trustee-president of ACT and/or ACTIEF, he was among those who signed the accreditation of his school on June 14, 2010 in the city’s scholarship program.

Yesterday, Abellanosa said the recent Office of the Ombudsman decision was not yet final, and appealed for the body to reconsider its decision, contending that it is the House of Representatives that has jurisdiction over the issue.

The Ombudsman, however, rejected his arguments as well as his contention that his election to a public office in 2013 made the complaint moot and academic, as stipulated under the Aguinaldo Doctrine.

The anti-graft office, though, said filing of the complaint against Abellanosa has legal basis.

“The complaint is not trivial, frivolous, vexatious, or made in bad faith. A mere allegation that the case was politically-motivated does not automatically establish that (it is),” read the order.

It added that the filing of the complaint against Abellanosa a year after the act was made was not a legal impediment for the anti-graft body to conduct the administrative adjudication of the case.

The Ombudsman said the one-year rule mentioned in Section 20 of Republic Act 6770 (Ombudsman Act) is only “permissive, and not mandatory, because administrative offenses do not prescribe.”

“The issuance of the decision enjoys the presumption of regularity that respondent failed to overcome with evidence,” it said in rejecting Abellanosa’s motion for reconsideration.

Abellanosa had argued that there was forum shopping when Banguiran filed the complaint before the Ombudsman because his political opponent Aristotle Batuhan filed a similar complaint before the Office of the President.

The Ombudsman, however, said such was not the case. — /RHM (FREEMAN)