Justice Ong on guilty report: ‘Untruthful and misleading’
MANILA, Philippines–Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Gregory Ong on Thursday declined to refute the reports that he was found guilty in administrative proceedings due to his alleged close ties with alleged pork scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.
Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Gregory Ong INQUIRER PHOTO
“Yet though I issue this statement, I stop short of attempting to refute such allegations and claims , as published by the Inquirer, not because I am not willing or capable of refuting them, but because this is not the proper forum for me to do so,” Ong said in a statement Thursday.
“To repeat, the rules of the Supreme Court do not allow me to publicly dispute and discuss the allegations and claims being made against me because the administrative proceeding against members of the Judiciary are supposed to be strictly private and confidential,” Ong further said.
He pointed out that the PDI report stating that the Supreme Court found him guilty of accepting a payoff to fix a case in favor of Napoles is “untruthful and misleading”
Ong said the Supreme Court has yet to issue a ruling finding him guilty.
He explained that the report of retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez is only recommendatory and cannot be concluded as the decision of the Supreme Court.
“A decision of the Supreme Court , acting as a collegial body, to be considered as a valid decision must be duly or officially issued and promulgated,” Ong said.
“To date, the Supreme Court has not made any ruling on my case, which is still pending deliberation,” he added.
Ong reminded the media to be balanced and fair in their reporting and respect the confidential judicial deliberations.
He reminded the media that disclosure or premature release of such report is “patently illegal and even considered a serious criminal offense” under the Anti-Graft Law.
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