Ermita faces raps for not suspending Neri

MANILA, Philippines - Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita can be charged with graft for failing to implement the Office of the Ombudsman’s six-month suspension order on Social Security System (SSS) president Romulo Neri.

Under the law, only a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) or an injunction from a court can stop the enforcement of the anti-graft agency’s order and not a mere motion for reconsideration, a source from the Office of the Ombudsman who declined to be named said.

“Generally, only a TRO or an injunction can stop Neri’s suspension,” the source said.

“He (Ermita), in a letter to the Office of the Ombudsman, said he was advised by Secretary Neri that he has filed a motion for reconsideration and that he would wait for the resolution of the motion,” the source said.

Republic Act 6770 or the Ombudsman Act states that “refusal by any officer without just cause to comply with an order of the Ombudsman… shall be a ground for disciplinary action.”

The source said Ermita may be liable for grave misconduct or even violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for giving someone “unwarranted benefits, advantage, or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence.”

The source said Ermita may also be cited for contempt if his failure to implement the suspension order has turned out to be without justifiable reason.

The Office of the Ombudsman ordered Neri suspended for six months without pay on Aug. 27 shortly after indicting him for graft in connection with the botched $329-million national broadband network deal between the government and China’s ZTE Corp. Also indicted for graft and bribery was former elections chief Benjamin Abalos.

The five-man Ombudsman panel of investigators exonerated First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo who figured prominently in the controversy. The panel also spared President Arroyo, citing her being immune from prosecution as sitting president.

Assistant Ombudsman Jose de Jesus Jr. said the team, headed by Deputy Ombudsman for the Military and other Law Enforcement Offices Emilio Gonzalez III, will reconvene as soon as all appeals are consolidated.

“This week, if all the motions are submitted, by rule, (they) will be consolidated and submitted to the panel,” he told The STAR.

The rest of the members of the investigating panel are Mindanao-based Assistant Ombudsman Rodolfo Elman, director Cesar Asuncion, and deputy special prosecutors Jesus Micael and Robert Kallos.

University of the Philippines professor Harry Roque, Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiversos-Baraquel, and witness Rodolfo Lozada Jr. have asked the Ombudsman to file more graft charges against Neri and Abalos and investigate the First Couple for their alleged involvement in the NBN anomaly.