GARCIA PLEA: OMBUDSMAN GUTIERREZ ON SANDIGAN RULING- I TOLD YOU SO!
MANILA, MAY 11, 2011 (STAR) By Michael Punongbayan - Former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez yesterday said the Sandiganbayan decision approving the plea bargain agreement between government prosecutors and former military comptroller Carlos Garcia has vindicated the Office of the Ombudsman.
She described the ruling as �an acknowledgment that we have not been remiss in our duty to protect the interest of the government and the Filipino people.�
Gutierrez, who resigned from her post last week after being accused of sitting on high-profile cases and entering into a deal that has allowed a perceived plunderer to escape liability, said the Sandiganbayan decision �is a vindication of the Office of the Ombudsman and the OSP (Office of the Special Prosecutor).�
�It is consistent with the position taken by our special prosecutors that the plea bargain agreement is legal, regular and aboveboard, otherwise it will not be approved by the graft court,� she said.
�It is likewise a recognition of the position we took that
the plea bargain deal is the best option for the government given the weak information filed by my predecessor,� she said, referring to former ombudsman Simeon Marcelo.
Gutierrez, who resigned days before she was to face the Senate as an impeachment court, said allegations that the Office of the Ombudsman bungled the P303-million Garcia plunder case were untrue.
�It shows once and for all that the allegations thrown at the Office of the Ombudsman and the OSP are baseless and malicious, meant only to deceive the public and put me and the entire Office of the Ombudsman in a bad light,� she said.
Special Prosecutor Wendell Sulit, for her part, said she has not read the decision yet but is thanking God for the same.
�With all humility, I plead to our detractors to please respect the decision of the court. We have succumbed to extreme humiliation and suffered all in silence. Our strong faith in the almighty God has kept our sanity intact for after all, He alone will bring out the truth in His time,� she said.
Deputy Special Prosecutor Jesus Micael said the Sandiganbayan, the referee, has finally spoken and its decision should be respected.
The anti-graft court, in two separate resolutions issued Monday, approved the Garcia plea bargain agreement which allows the government to recover P135.4 million of the P303 million he is alleged to have stolen from the government.
The Sandiganbayan second division, citing weak evidence and an equally weak complaint filed against the accused, said it had only two options � approve the deal or absolve the accused.
Desperate act
Also yesterday, Gutierrez slammed her critics for the �desperate� act of filing graft and other cases against her at the Department of Justice (DOJ) using allegedly baseless accusations of wrongdoing.
She nevertheless expressed readiness to face the charges which she believes will be junked if she will be fairly treated during the investigation.
�The filing of graft charges is quite expected since these groups have been bent on filing charges against the former Ombudsman no matter how baseless and absurd their allegations are,� Gutierrez said in a statement.
�But it appears to be an act of desperation on their part resulting from the former Ombudsman�s unexpected resignation. The termination of the impeachment proceedings in the Senate has effectively deprived them of the forum to project themselves for political gains which is the reason why they are pursuing the charges against her before a different body,� she said.
�Nonetheless the former Ombudsman is ready to face the charges. The allegations are nothing new. She had sufficiently answered them in the past. She believes that if fairly and objectively treated, she will be vindicated. She will submit the appropriate pleadings in due time as may be required,� her statement read.
On Monday, party-list and other groups filed graft, obstruction of justice, perjury and false testimony charges against Gutierrez before the DOJ.
They accused the former Ombudsman of failing to act promptly on the fertilizer fund scam of 2004 which was also among the allegations against Gutierrez in the articles of impeachment forwarded by the House of Representatives to the Senate.
Meantime, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said she would assign the complaint filed by various groups of militant farmers against Gutierrez to prosecutors for preliminary investigation even as she admitted that the Ombudsman�s office has primary jurisdiction over graft cases.
�In practical terms, it will be difficult for the Ombudsman to handle such a case and pass judgment on the actions of their former head,� she said in a press conference.
She again explained that the DOJ has the power to investigate graft and corruption cases under an existing memorandum of agreement with the Ombudsman, which has sole jurisdiction in prosecuting graft cases against public officials before the Sandiganbayan.
It was the same ground she used in justifying the DOJ�s jurisdiction over the plunder charges filed last month against former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for alleged diversion of over P550 million in funds allocated for overseas Filipino workers to her campaign kitty in the 2004 polls.
�We have to honor also the wishes of the complainants. They prefer that the complaint be filed with the DOJ, and we have to honor that since we have concurrent jurisdiction (on graft complaints) anyway,� she stressed.
De Lima said the complaint against Gutierrez would �go through the process� in the DOJ unless the Ombudsman�s office, which would soon be under a new head, seeks jurisdiction over the case.
�At the moment we�re taking cognizance of the case unless certain developments � especially in the office of the Ombudsman � would indicate propriety or desirability of having that case transferred or turned over to the Ombudsman,� she added. � With Edu Punay
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