CALL it a defining moment. Call it A moment of truth. But that’s what Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez faces. The Supreme Court set a Sept. 30 deadline (today) for her to report her findings on the possible liability of government officials and private parties involved in the election counting machines contract of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) which the Supreme Court voided and nullified. By this time, she will have to decide whether to adopt or repudiate the recommendations made to her by her own Field Investigation Office (FIO) on the matter.
A copy of those recommendations has been provided to me by former Sen. Jovito Salonga, which I share with the readers, so that it can be compared with whatever Gutierrez has submitted to the Supreme Court. We can then judge whether the ombudsman is worthy of her salt, or merely a sheep (or a “tuta” -- lapdog) in wolf’s clothing.
I say tuta. But Garcillano defender ComelecAKO agrees with the decision, tho. No surprise there. :rolleyes:
The Bystander is sickened by the ombudsman decision.
And here's the money quote from an email from the Black and White Movement:
"This is a travesty of justice! This is like saying a rape was indeed perpetrated, but there was no rapist", declared Enteng Romano, lead convenor of the Black & White Movement. "The Ombudsman has committed grave abuse of discretion, not even bothering to point us in the right direction. Who shall we hold accountable?"
Siguro "lapse of judgment" ng COMELEC lang yan Enteng.
And this PCIJ article says it all: Ombudsman ignored own investigator’s report holding Comelec officials liable
AFTER a two-year-long investigation, the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday finally released its findings on the P1.3-billion poll automation deal, absolving all officials involved in the controversy of any wrongdoing.
In a 52-page resolution, the anti-graft body cleared the Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair Benjamin Abalos, five other poll officials, and executives of the Mega Pacific eSolutions Inc. (MPEI) of any criminal and administrative liability.
Many were surprised with the ruling as it was a complete turnaround from the June 28, 2006 report, which recommended the indictment of Comelec officials and eight Mega Pacific officers and that impeachment charges be filed against elections commissioner Resurreccion Borra.
But what may not be known to many and what newspapers failed to report, is that on September 4, the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office (FIO) submitted a report to Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, recommending “all sitting Comelec officers” at the time the anomalous contract was signed, a Department of Science and Technology official, and six Mega Pacific incorporators and stockholders, “be held criminally, administratively, and civilly liable in connection with the voided contract.”
“The report was totally opposite (from yesterday’s ruling). The question is, what happened to that report? Was Gutierrez aware of it and what was her decision?” raises former Comelec commissioner Christian Monsod. He says Gutierrez must be “very transparent on the findings of the opposing panel.”
I smell whitewash. I smell a coverup.
Read this report too from the Malaya:
Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano (NP, Taguig-Pateros), a deputy minority leader, said the Arroyo administration "has mastered the art of cover-up, making it appear that it is but a regular policy of the government."
"Nuong eleksyon, may dayaan pero wala naman daw nandaya. Sa fertilizer scam, may overpricing pero wala naman daw nag-overprice. Ngayon naman may kaso pero walang kriminal. This is the government’s best entry to Ripley’s Believe It or Not," he said.
Sen. Joker Arroyo said the "outrageous" ruling was either part of a cover-up or of a collusion.
"This has never happened in the past," he said. "What is sacrosanct about the Comelec? This was a compromise to save the souls of Comelec officials," he said.
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel warned that the Ombudsman might have inflicted a "mortal wound" on itself.
Pimentel said it is outrageous and unthinkable that the Ombudsman would come up with a decision on a patently flawed transaction that exonerates the Comelec and Mega Pacific executives who were responsible for it.
In a 52-page resolution, the anti-graft body on Monday reversed its June 28, 2006 ruling that recommended the indictment of five Comelec officials and six incorporators of Mega Pacific eSolutions for graft and the filing of impeachment charges against Comelec Commissioner Resurreccion Borra.
The latest ruling is also in sharp contrast to the June 23, 2005 resolution of a panel of Ombudsman graft investigators that recommended the filing of impeachment complaints against Chairman Benjamin Abalos and Commissioners Borra, Mehol Sadain and Florentino Tuazon on the grounds of graft and corruption and betrayal of public trust and held retired Commissioners Luzviminda Tancangco and Pablo Ralph Lantion liable for two counts of graft each.
I think Mike Arroyo's classmate should resign. But that will never happen because this partisan is so useful to this administration.
re the partisan nature of the current ombudsman, eto sinabi ni Manong Ernie:
The Ombudsman is the agency that is tasked by the Constitution to be the principal check against corruption and wrongdoings by public officials.
Its decision clearing all Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioners in the celebrated automated computerization contract declared void by the Supreme Court (SC) is sure to encourage all those conducting procurement or public bidding to violate existing laws on the matter.
Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez has effectively thrown into the waste basket the provision of the anti-graft law making it a crime to enter into any contract that is “disadvantageous to the government.” It also gives the supplier an excuse not to refund P1.3 billion to the government. She just threw away P1.3 billion.
It is difficult to accept the Gutierrez decision to reverse a clear finding of the SC. This is in sharp contrast to the hasty decision to charge opposition mayors Wenceslao “Peewee” Trinidad and Jejomar Binay.
It now confirms and validates all fears that Gutierrez, a close friend and classmate of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, was appointed to the Ombudsman job to protect administration allies.
The Comelec clearance certainly is a step backward in the GMA administration’s announced drive against corruption. It looks like the millions given to the Ombudsman recently to step up its anti-corruption cleanup is a waste of money.
Read this MLQ3 roundup: A Crime but no Criminals
Dean Jorge Bocobo on Mercy Gutierrez:
ROGUE OMBUDSMAN: I can only describe MERCEDITAS GUTIERREZ at this point as a complete and utter disgrace to the Office of the Ombudsman and the legal profession with her WHITEWASH of Ben Abalos and the Comelec Commissioners responsible for what the Supreme Court condemned in 2004 as a "glaring grave abuse of discretion by the Comelec" in illegally awarding a P1.2 billion peso contract for an automated counting system that did not meet the Comelec's own bidding and technical specifications. By completely absolving Abalos, Garcillano, et al, and the Tansipeks (or whoever their stinking, crooked cronies are in this MegaPacific Consortium), the Ombudsman is undermining the legal, moral and juridical authority of the Supreme Court. She is acting as a Rogue of Impunity and challenging the Court to do something. What the Supreme Court does about this atrocious slap-in-the-face and dirt kicked in for good measure, may determine the fate of the Rule of Law in this ill-fated jurisdiction, where it seems, there can no longer be any counting upon the usual expectations of a nominally civilized and orderly society, where a two-bit political appointee of an illegitimate, lying, cheating, President gets to diss the Supreme Court and throw its Decision back in its face, with a spit and a click of her heels.
Sarcasm from the Malaya Editorial:
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez got it right when he said the poll agency was vindicated with the Ombudsman report.
"This is what we have been saying all along, that there is no irregularity (in the acquisition) of the ACMs," Jimenez said.
There is it, folks. THERE WAS NO IRREGULARITY IN THE ACQUISITION OF THE MACHINES.
It then follows that paying P1.3 billion for those idled machines was perfectly regular. Nobody was unduly benefited. There was no loss to the government.
The irregularity was only in the minds of the members of the Supreme Court and of Senate Blue Ribbon committee.
And Gloria Arroyo is the most truthful, honest and upright president this country has ever had
Heh. No amount of whitewashing will ever shore up Arroyo's partisan COMELEC.
Late Wednesday roundup:
-- Ellen Tordesillas is having a hard time coping with her asthma problem after 6 days na walang kuryente pa rin sa bahay nila.
-- Washington Post: Don't try to censor a blogger.
-- Tribune Edit: Enough is enough
-- Conrad de quiros: "There is one point about the killings that seems to escape the notice of foreign journalist organizations that have rightly condemned the atrocity. That is the fact that most of the victims have worked outside Metro Manila. That is the case in particular with the journalists. There seems to be an implicit taboo on the killing of journalists in Metro Manila. Nearly to a man or woman, the journalists have been killed outside the capital.
It’s not hard to see where that taboo comes from. It doesn’t come from the would-be assassins’ healthy respect for the national media, it comes from the would-be assassins’ healthy fear of international opinion. If the killers have nothing to do with government, they stand to be tracked down resolutely with the flailing of the international press. If the killers have to do with government, the government stands to be reviled passionately with the driving of the international press.
The confinement of the murders to the countryside is surprisingly true as well for the activists. Though a few activists have been murdered in the fringes of Metro Manila, most have been felled well outside of it. The people of the Bayan Muna party-list group that I’ve talked to at least have told me they still felt relatively safe -- such as any dissenter can still feel safe in the Philippines -- in Metro Manila. But that was before the recent murder of Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay’s security aide, Pablo Glean. If that is a political killing, and it looks every inch so, it is a scary pass. It ups the ante on the mayhem."
-- The proliferation of gambling and casinos was one of the issues why erap was booted out. Pero bakit tahimik na lang ang mga usual suspects at moralists ngayong mas malala pa ang proliferation ng gambling under the arroyo admin?
The US Congress has approved legislation imposing severe restrictions on on-line or Internet gambling. For such broadminded and permissive Congress to pass this legislation is a recognition of the evil effects of on-line gambling on the general population, especially the youth.
For a conservative Catholic country like the Philippines, the GMA policy of allowing and opening up all forms of gambling to the public is certainly deplorable. It further impoverishes a great majority of the population.
I do believe that outside of Las Vegas, we now have more casinos and gambling parlors than any other country in this whole wide world.
If only for this reason, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and Muslim Ulamas must unite to demand a reversal of GMA’s open country policy on gambling.
Nah, the bishops like their PAGCOR (and jueteng?) money too much to protest.
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