Ombudsman not independent, under OP jurisdiction — Valte By Aytch S. de la Cruz 04/03/2011

Ombudsman not independent, under OP jurisdiction — Valte

By Aytch S. de la Cruz 04/03/2011

Malacañang put forward an argument that the Office of the Ombudsman is not a separate or co-equal branch of government and thus is under the jurisdiction of the Office of the President (OP) which runs against the intent of the Constitution in making the anti-graft body as an independent and autonomous constitutional agency in asserting its authority to terminate Deputy Ombudsman Emilio Gonzales III supposedly acting on the recommendations of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) that looked into the Aug. 23 hostage crisis.

Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, however, indicated that she will not carry out the OP’s order on Gonzales who Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa charged of being guilty of gross neglect of duty and gross misconduct in handling the case of hostage taker dismissed police officer Rolando Mendoza..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110403hed3.html