Lopez
One would think that in this age of Duterte, that the dark forces of Yellow hypocrisy would be silenced for good, forever banished into the shadows of irrelevance, plunged into the deepest depths of the pits of political hell.
But no, some remnants of Yellow duplicity and oligarch puppetry remain, occupying positions of leadership in institutions that have the power to undermine this government’s reform agenda.
And last week the old empire struck back.
The Ombudsman, Directing Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, ordered the dismissal of Deputy Speaker Gwen Garcia, perpetually disqualifying her from holding public office and forfeiting her retirement benefits.
The Ombudsman’s statement says the ruling stems from her approval of the purchase of the P98.9 million Balili property in Naga City, never mind that though related, this is a different case altogether.
The Ombudsman’s decision against Garcia involving the purchase of the lot has since been reversed by no less than the Court of Appeals. So the Ombudsman’s statement saying this stems from the “purchase” of the Balili property is misleading, to say the least.
On the other hand, this preposterous overreach on the part of the Ombudsman is linked to the backfilling of parts of the property that had water. It must be pointed out that most of the Balili property is dry land and only portions of which had water. These are fishponds that are titled and since there is jurisprudence on the titling of fishponds, there is a presumption of regularity, that the purchase is above board. Further, the province never paid for the areas with mangroves (different from the titled fishponds) — those were a bonus given by the seller at no cost to taxpayers.
At any rate, that case has already been settled by the Court of Appeals. What is particularly mind-boggling is the brazenness of this Ombudsman to do to Garcia what it has done to her before — especially after the rebuke it had received from the Court of Appeals.
In 2013, the Ombudsman found Garcia guilty of grave misconduct for the purchase of the Balili properties. In 2014, the Court of Appeals nullified and set aside the Ombudsman’s decision and found that she gravely abused her discretion and acted capriciously in finding Garcia guilty.
Though this case involves the backfilling of the same property, not its purchase, the same set of circumstances are present, just like in the Ombudsman’s 2013 decision and the CA’s subsequent reversal and rebuke: the Ombudsman gravely abused her discretion and acted capriciously in finding Garcia guilty considering the alleged act was covered by the Aguinaldo Doctrine. Garcia was elected in 2013 and 2016, respectively, as representative of Cebu’s 3rd District.
Is Conchita Carpio-Morales going senile? As they say, senility is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.
Furthermore, Section 21 of the Ombudsman Law is clear. “Section 21. Official Subject to Disciplinary Authority; Exceptions. — The Office of the Ombudsman shall have disciplinary authority over all elective and appointive officials of the Government and its subdivisions, instrumentalities and agencies, including Members of the Cabinet, local government, government-owned or controlled corporations and their subsidiaries, except over officials who may be removed only by impeachment or over Members of Congress, and the Judiciary.” Conchita, the law that gives you, your mandate specifically excludes “members of Congress,” entiendes?
Speaker Alvarez’s decision not to enforce the order is therefore in accordance with both the Constitution and the Ombudsman Law.
So why is the Ombudsman doing this? Para que?
The last bastions of the Yellow regime, apart from some opposition senators and congressmen, are the Office of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Ombudsman, CHR, and up until recently, the Comelec.
Deputy Speaker Gwen Garcia has been the leading force in bringing these residual Yellow elements to justice. She endorsed the impeachment of Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista and did not give up even when they did not have the numbers in the House Justice Committee. On October 11, through a masterstroke of political genius, she stood up at the plenary session and overturned the Justice Committee’s decision with a number of congressmen supporting her well beyond what was required, effectively impeaching Bautista, the first ever Comelec chairman to be impeached in history.
It did not progress to a full-blown impeachment trial because Bautista had the good sense to resign, but we have a Bautista-free Comelec largely because of a Garcia who didn’t give up.
Fast forward to the ongoing hearings of the House Justice Committee on the verified impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. Once more, Garcia is not only an endorser, she is also the one leading the charge to impeach the Chief Justice, asking the most sensible and piercing questions during the hearings.
It doesn’t take half a brain to see what’s happening here. The Ombudsman is protecting her fellow Yellow general by trying to weaken Garcia’s credibility in the eyes of the public. Carpio-Morales knows this will not amount to anything, legally, so she is abusing her authority to at least get something out of this politically.
But this is Gwen we’re talking about. What was Carpio-Morales even smoking? Gwen survived suspension and a contested election under the supreme rule of the Yellow Sith Lord Aquino. Big mistake taunting a resting giant who has fought and won bigger battles.
Showing in Cebu this 2019: The Force Awakens.