Comelec, House told: Act on Abellanosa dismissal

THE OFFICE of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas is asking the House of Representatives and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to act on a ruling that dismissed Cebu South District Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa.

Deputy Ombudsman Paul Elmer Clemente attached copies of the decision of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales finding Abellanosa guilty of grave misconduct in different endorsements he sent to House Speaker Fernando Feliciano Belmonte and Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista, asking them to act on Abellanosa’s dismissal.

Clemente endorsed the Ombudsman decision “for appropriate action and/or implementation in accordance with law.”

For the Comelec endorsement, Clemente added another statement for the commission to act based on a Supreme Court ruling in Jalosjos vs. Comelec.

The Ombudsman decision to dismiss Abellanosa stemmed from a complaint where it was found that Abellanosa’s school, the Asian College of Technology, was a major beneficiary of Cebu City Hall’s scholarship program during his tenure as city councilor.

But Abellanosa said the Deputy Ombudsman’s endorsement is just “part of due process.”

“The matter is the subject of a petition for review before the Court of Appeals, which now has jurisdiction. The finding of the Ombudsman is not yet final, and reference to Jalosjos vs. Comelec is misplaced. In that case, Jalosjos was found guilty by final judgment in a criminal case,” he said in a statement.

He reiterated his earlier stand that the Ombudsman doesn’t have disciplinary authority over members of the Congress, judiciary and impeachable officials. He said he can only be removed by a two-thirds vote by members of the Congress.

Councilor Gerardo Carillo, who is running against Abellanosa for South District representative post, gave copies of the Ombudsman’s endorsement yesterday.

He said he got the copy from Philip Banguiran, who filed the case against Abellanosa, which led to the Ombudsman’s dismissal order.