MANILA, Philippines ? Former Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio accused Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez of abusing her discretion when she dismissed his appeal in connection with the perjury and falsification cases filed against him.

In his petition for certiorari, he also asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order against the Sandiganbayan from proceeding with the trial of the case lodged against him.

In April, the Ombudsman filed perjury and falsification case against Villa-Ignacio, two months after his retirement for allegedly lying in his application form when he applied for the Ombudsman post in 2005.

The complaint was based on the findings of the Ombudsman?s Internal Affairs Board alleging that Villa-Ignacio answered ?no? to a question that asked if he had been charged with, convicted of, or sanctioned for a violation, in his personal data sheet even though he was administratively reprimanded by the high court in 2001.

Villa-Ignacio earlier said the case against him was plain harassment.

He said malice and abuse of office were absent in the act for which he was indicted thus he could not be charged for such offense.