Ombudsman playing favorites, suspended LP gov complains

OMBUDSMAN Conchita Carpio Morales played favorites with allies of administration presidential candidate Mar Roxas, according to the lawyer of suspended Camarines Norte Gov. Edgardo Tallado.

Lawyer Adan Marcelo Botor questioned why Morales did not apply in their case the legal doctrine on condonation of administrative cases which she applied in the case of Capiz Gov. Victor Tanco Sr.

The lawyer said the two governors were both reelected in 2013. But while the Ombudsman reversed its dismissal order against Tanco citing the condonation doctrine, it did not do the same with Tallado, he said.

Botor said Tanco is a member of the administration Liberal Party (LP) and an ally of Roxas while Tallado has been dropped from the LP ranks based on the immorality complaint made by Daet Mayor Tito Sarion who is running for vice governor in next year’s elections.

“What is playing here is purely politics and the allies of the present administration are covered with the mantle of protection from Malacañang if only to help the candidacy of Roxas,” Botor said in a statement.

He said the Ombudsman is engaged in “selective judgment” against public officials perceived to be rivals of Roxas.

Last October, the Ombudsman suspended Tallado for a year for an administrative case because he allegedly disobeyed the order of the Civil Service Commission to reinstate a dismissed provincial veterinarian.

In the same month, the Ombudsman also announced it has dismissed and perpetually banned Tanco from holding public office for extortion in 2011.

But last week, the Department of the Interior and Local Government said the dismissal order against Tanco would no longer be implemented because the Ombudsman has reconsidered and applied the condonation doctrine.

The Supreme Court doctrine condones the administrative liability of an elected public official for a past offense once that official is reelected.

But in a decision last Nov. 10, the Supreme Court abandoned the so-called “Aguinaldo Doctrine” as it upheld the Ombudsman’s dismissal of Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay.

The high court said its ruling would be applied proactively, not retroactively.

Last Dec. 1, the Ombudsman denied Tallado’s appeal to reverse his suspension order based on the condonation doctrine.

The Ombudsman said “the questioned act persisted even after reelection” and that records show that

Tallado’s defiance of the CSC’s directive to reinstate the veterinarian “extended up to his present term of office.”

Botor claimed that Tallado’s administrative case was revived after it was dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman last March 24, 2014.