WORKERS’ group Trabaho party-list has expressed its support to the Office of the Ombudsman, stressing that the agency is mandated by law to act promptly on complaints filed in any form or manner against public officials in every case where there is evidence submitted.
The group’s statement came amid questions raised by several groups on the Ombudsman’s decision to dismiss former Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) head Cesar Chiong based on complaints filed by anonymous individuals.
The groups have said that Chiong’s accusers “should not hide behind anonymity if their charges have real basis.”
“The Office of the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman himself are not above the law,” Trabaho party-list secretary general Juan Paolo Lorica said.
“Republic Act 6770 compels Justice Samuel Martires, as it did his predecessors-in-office, not to discriminate against anonymous complaints as long as he is confronted with concrete evidence against a public official. In fact, the Constitution itself empowers the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate on its own any illegal or unjust act possibly committed by those in government,” Lorica said.
The Office of the Ombudsman last month ordered the dismissal of Chiong and MIAA assistant general manager Irene Montalbo for grave abuse of authority and misconduct.
According to the Ombudsman’s 21-page decision, the dismissal stemmed from the complaint of anonymous MIAA officials about Chiong’s order to reassign about 285 employees without any basis after he assumed office in July last year.
Lorica pointed out that the Ombudsman’s decision found that a number of MIAA employees, if not all, were transferred to a division or department or designated to a position where they have no knowledge or experience and could not very well function in a manner that said division or department needs.
“For example, an electrical engineer from the Electrical Division was reassigned as manager of the Airport Police department. Clearly, the reassigned engineer will be ill suited to manage the security department,” he said.
“There is nothing to stop the public from speculating whether that particular decision contributed to the power interruptions in the airport,” he added.
“We continue to stand by the Office of the Ombudsman as it fulfills its sworn mandate. The law pertaining to personnel movement is not intended as a convenient shield for an appointing or disciplining officer to harass or oppress a subordinate on the pretext of advancing and promoting public interest,” Lorico also said.
