The Manila Times
MANILA, Philippines – Presidential Adviser on Poverty Alleviation Larry Gadon on Monday blasted the Supreme Court for its “much-delayed” ruling that voided the 2018 dismissal of former overall deputy ombudsman Arthur Carandang by then president Rodrigo Duterte. Gadon told The Manila Times in an interview via Viber that the high court has lost its credibility with its latest move, declaring Carandang’s dismissal void from the outset, describing the move as a breach of the constitutional principle of checks and balances. “It took them eight years to decide a very basic and simple constitutional issue in the case of former Deputy Ombudsman Carandang,” said Gadon. “Even a law student would know that the dismissal of Carandang was illegal but the high tribunal took those long years to decide,” the anti-poverty presidential adviser said. While Carandang has been awarded back pay, Gadon, a former lawyer, said that it was not about money “but more importantly on the public service he could have performed during his term.” “We could have witnessed and known more names in the previous administration involved in corruption cases,” he said. In its decision, the high court held that the Office of the President has no power to impose administrative sanctions on officials of the Office of the Ombudsman, which the Constitution designates as an independent body. Carandang had been dismissed in 2018 after he was accused of disclosing alleged bank records of the Duterte family purportedly showing billions of pesos in wealth. At the time, then-ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales inhibited herself from handling complaints involving Duterte due to her relation by affinity to his daughter, Sara Duterte, leaving Carandang to act on the case. Carandang is entitled to full retirement benefits upon the expiration of his term, as well as back salaries covering the period of his preventive suspension and dismissal, according to the high tribunal.
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