Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said his office is listing the administrative cases where its dismissal of government officials was halted or reversed by the Court of Appeals, following the Supreme Court’s call that he substantiate his complaints about court rulings.
Remulla also said his predecessor, Samuel Martires, earlier filed an administrative complaint against seven CA Justices before the Supreme Court’s Judicial Integrity Board over their issuance of temporary restraining orders (TROs) against the preventive suspension of officials in Antique province.
The complaint was filed in March last year.
Remulla said there is no public record of this being resolved.
But he noted that the court recently appointed its new Judicial Integrity Officer, former Deputy Ombudsman Gerard Mosquera.
“I expect this to be acted upon,” he said in his regular radio show on DZRH on Saturday.
He also said his office is now conducting an inventory of its decisions dismissing officials over administrative cases which were reversed or halted by the courts.
Remulla earlier pressed for reforms in the judiciary after he lamented the CA reversing Ombudsman rulings that dismiss officials in administrative cases.
He said Saturday that it is part of his office’s power to dismiss government officials—except those in the legislature and impeachable officials— over administrative offenses after a hearing.
“Ibig sabihin may findings of fact na kami. Ngayon, pag dinismiss nila iyon, ni-reverse nila kami, ano yun, meron silang bagong finding of fact?” he said.
He also said that when there is an injunction issued against its rulings suspending or dismissing officials, it can take years for the case to be resolved.
“Parang wala ng bisa yung preventive suspension? Hindi niyo na ginagalang? Eh para saan pa yung aming Ombudsman law?” he said.
He said the court has only disciplined a few members for the delay in resolving cases.
Remulla said it may be too late to file cases, but the judiciary has to get a grasp of that history.
“Institutional yung problema. It’s the court system which is one of the problems in this country,” he said.
He also said institutions should not be onion-skinned and should study the problems besetting them.
He once more brought up the issue of courts taking a long time to resolve cases, leaving the accused languishing in jail.
He said most lawyers are afraid to say it out of fear of being disbarred, but it has to be said.
The SC, in response to Remulla’s earlier statements, 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.
It called on Remulla or the concerned parties to file the proper complaint backed by evidence.