Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Fernanda Lampas-Peralta laid down numbers as she countered an earlier statement by Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla that “many” of his office’s administrative case rulings dismissing erring officials had been reversed by the appellate court.
Speaking at the Senate budget hearing for the judiciary, Lampas-Peralta said that for the last five years, or from 2021 up to the present, 683 cases were appealed to the CA, and of those cases, only 18 percent were reversed.
But 82 percent or 559 were affirmed, Lampas-Peralta pointed out.
She also said the CA gathered statistics on temporary restraining orders and writ of preliminary injunctions issued by the CA from 2021 up to the present.
The numbers showed that 87 cases were filed in relation to this, and of these cases, only six cases were granted a TRO and injunction, she said.
“Meaning to say that there were not many many cases wherein the Ombudsman was reversed by the Court of Appeals,” she said.
Court Administrator Justice Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta said that for January to July this year, out of 286 administrative cases brought to the Supreme Court, only 13 were reversed, representing 0.045 percent.
“So not all cases filed are reversed in so far as the administrative cases are concerned,” Gomez-Esotesta said.
Remulla earlier said the judiciary should do some soul-searching as he lamented the CA’s reversal of Ombudsman rulings and the long time it takes to resolve cases.
He said his office is tallying the administrative cases where the Ombudsman’s dismissal of government officials was halted or reversed by the CA.
He also said there is a pending administrative complaint against seven CA Justices filed by his predecessor last year, and there is no public record of this being resolved.
Responding to Remulla’s statement, the Supreme Court invited him to file a proper complaint.
It said it takes allegations of partiality, misconduct and corruption seriously but cannot investigate broad accusations against an entire appellate court based on public statements alone.