Ombudsman orders records officer to explain Mamasapano case delay

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales has ordered the chief records officer of the Office of the Special Prosecutor to explain why it took seven months for the Mamasapano incident case to reach the Sandiganbayan.

Morales said that it turned out that the charges against dismissed Philippine National Police director-general Alan Purisima and retired Special Action Forces head Getulio Napeñas was due for filing in June.

Yet, the charges for usurpation of authority and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act only reached the court on the eve of the Mamasapano debacle’s second anniversary yesterday.

“I issued a show-cause order to the former chief records officer of the OSP when she did not file the information contrary to the standing order of the Ombudsman that if you submit a case for filing, it should be within a reasonable time,” Morales told reporters at the sidelines of the Asia Women’s Summit in Pasay City.

“When it was discovered it was not filed… I gave her a show-cause order to within 24 hours she should not be faulted,” she said.

To recall, Morales issued her resolution finding probable cause to press charges against Purisima and Napeñas in April. Two months later, she denied the motions for reconsideration that sought the reversal of resolution.

The records officer, whom she only identified by the surname Cagat-Cagat, was no longer serving that position as of December, having been transferred to another assignment

An Inquirer source identified her as Atty. Alma Cagat-Cagat, who is now a prosecutor at the OSP.

Asked whether the delayed filing of the Mamasapano cases was an isolated incident, Morales said: “We are still looking at the records.”

She also admitted that the discovery was prompted when a television reporter sought updates in time for the clash’s second anniversary today. CDG

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TAGS: Conchita Carpio-Morales, Mamasapano, Ombudsman