THE Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the dismissal of former Bogo mayor Celestino Martinez III from service along with former municipal treasurer Rhet Minguez.
The CA dismissed the petition for certiorari that was filed by Martinez to stop the Department of Interior and Local Governance (DILG) from proceeding with the enforcement of the dismissal order issued against them.
In the nine-page decision dated September 26, Associate Justice Germano Legaspi ruled that there was no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the deputy ombudsman in endorsing the dismissal order to the DILG for implementation.
The appellate court also rejected Martinez’ contention that Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Gerard Mosquera had no jurisdiction to investigate and rule on the acts complained of since these acts were allegedly committed in the Visayas and not in Luzon.
In his decision, Legaspi pointed out that Mosquera was appointed as chairman of the Special Panel on Fertilizer Fund Scam through a memorandum issued by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales.
“Petitioners’ assertion of grave abuse of discretion on the part of the (deputy) ombudsman and their claim of violation of their right to due process have no leg to stand on, ” Legaspi said.
Sought for comment, Martinez told CDN in a text message that there were still several measures and options that he and his lawyers can do.
“We wanted to question the validity of order by the OMB (Ombudsman) considering that naa pa’y pending MR (motion for reconsideration) with OMB which even until now, wala pa ma resolve,” he said.