Ombudsman affirms dismissal of 10 Navy men in Pestaño slay

MANILA, Philippines - Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales announced yesterday the denial of motions for reconsideration filed by 10 Navy officers dismissed from service in 2011 in connection with the death of Ensign Philip Pestaño.

In an order approved on Oct. 16, the Ombudsman maintained its Nov. 22, 2011 order dismissing the respondents for grave misconduct is a valid exercise of its disciplinary power as provided by the Constitution and Republic Act 6770.

Those ordered dismissed were Captain Ricardo Ordoñez, Cdr. Reynaldo Lopez, HM2 Welmenio Aquino, LCdr. Luidegar Casis, LCdr. Alfrederick Alba, MR2 Sandy Miranda, LCdr. Joselito Colico, LCdr. Ruben Roque, Petty Officer 1st Class Carlito Amoroso, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Mil Leonor Igcasan.

The Ombudsman ruled out suicide after finding a prima facie case of conspiracy to commit murder given the series of circumstances – the unusual actions and reactions of respondents on the alleged discovery of Pestaño’s death, the inconsistencies in their testimonies, the physical and object evidence, and the additional evidence unearthed in the military investigation which were made available to the complainants 10 years after Pestaño’s death in 1995.

The Oct. 16 order was forwarded to the Department of National Defense and the Philippine Navy for implementation.

Earlier this week, the Sandiganbayan junked the criminal case filed against the respondents for lack of jurisdiction. The court said at the time of the commission of the offense, the respondents were ranking Navy officers and the case should have been filed with a lower court.