MANILA – The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) has asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to reconsider its earlier ruling setting aside the preventive suspension order against Nueva Ecija Governor Aurelio Umali.
The case involved the issuance of 205 quarry permits without the required compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the alleged non-remittance to the local government units of their shares from the taxes collected.
In a 22-page motion dated Sept. 5 and signed by Assistant Ombudsman Asryman Rafanan, the OMB urged the appellate court to inhibit from the case, citing undue haste in the issuance of a restraining order and for ruling on the merit of the main case that is pending.
The Ombudsman is investigating charges of grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service filed by private individual Roberto Duldulao against Umali in March.
He was ordered suspended for six months by the OMB on May 10.
A 23-page CA decision dated Aug. 20 granted the petition filed by Umali to nullify his suspension.
"The Ombudsman is not required by law to wait and weigh the arguments of the defense before arriving at a determination on the evidence of guilt. Being preliminary in nature, strong evidence of guilt does not mean that the defense evidence should be awaited, considered and assessed, at such initial stage,” the Ombudsman said in its motion made public Tuesday.
“Hence, the ponencia (of the CA) gravely erred in resolving the admissibility and probative value of the entire pieces of evidence in the main administrative case which is precisely still pending before the Ombudsman," it added.
The Ombudsman said it "judiciously exercised its discretion in the imposition of the order of preventive suspension.”
“Clearly, there was no evidence to prove that the Office of the Ombudsman committed grave abuse of discretion," it said. (PNA)
