Office of the Ombudsman prepares for transition; welcomes and fully supports the next Ombudsman
05 July 2011, source: Ombudsman Website
ACTING OMBUDSMAN Casimiro took note of the Petition for Certiorari with Prayer for Issuance of Preventive Suspension filed by former DA officials Jocelyn Bolante et. al. in connection with the criminal indictment for plunder relative to the Fertilizer Fund Scam. The Acting Ombudsman reiterates that the Office adheres to the principle laid down by the Supreme Court in the case entitled "Office of the Ombudsman versus Samaniego" (GR No. 175573, 5 October 2010) that states:
"Section 7, Rule III of the Rules of Procedure of the Office of the Ombudsman, as amended, is categorical, an appeal shall not stop the decision from being executory."
Moreover, with the filing of the Information/s before the Sandiganbayan, the case is now under the direct control and supervision of the Anti-Graft court.
On the issue regarding the disbarment case to be filed by respondent Prospero Pichay, Jr. in connection with the finding of guilt for grave misconduct, the Acting Ombudsman respects the legal remedies that will be availed of by Pichay. On record, however, the administrative case was filed against him after a thorough and painstaking review by the lawyers from the Office of the Ombudsman and the law was applied on the basis of established facts as borne by the records.
With the recent publication of the shortlist for the Office of the Ombudsman, the institution is preparing for the transition to welcome and fully support the next Ombudsman to be appointed by the President. In the meantime, the Office continues to function and dispense with its mandate as the Republic’s chief graft buster.
Thus, in a case approved by the Acting Ombudsman, Anesia Buenafe-Dionisio and Virginia Diolola-Madeja were both found guilty of grave misconduct and were meted with the penalty of dismissal from the service. Both are members of the Board of Nurses of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).
The complaint was filed by the National Bureau of Investigation in connection with the nursing board exam leakage scam in 2006.
In the 32-page Decision, the Office established that majority of Dionisio’s test questions were shown to have reached the reviewees of the RA Gapuz Review Center and INRESS. The Office stated that Dionisio’s defense of loss of her manuscript is self-serving and inconceivable. Moreover, upon learning of the loss of her copy of test questionnaires, she failed to relay the fact to the appropriate authorities. The Office also found that Madeja was liable for gross inexcusable neglect in causing the premature and unauthorized disclosure of her proposed questions. The test questions were leaked by the examiners despite being highly confidential.
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