The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) has asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to reconsider its ruling that nullified the preventive suspension of Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio M. Umali.
In a motion filed by Assistant Ombudsman Asryman T. Rafanan, the CA’s division, which handed down the ruling, was also asked to inhibit itself for “undue haste” in handing down its decision.
The OMB started last March investigating the charges of grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service filed by private individual Roberto M. Duldulao against Umali as well as former governor Czarina Domingo Umali and retired Nueva Ecija Provincial Environment and Natural Resources officer Wilfredo M Pangilinan.
The complaint arose from the issuance of 205 quarry permits allegedly without the required environmental compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and alleged non-remittance to the local government units of the province of their shares from the taxes collected.
In its order, the OMB ordered the preventive suspension of Umali last May.
"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,” the OMB told the CA in its motion.
“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,” it pointed out.
“Hence, the ponencia (decision 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 OMB stressed that it "judiciously exercised its discretion in the imposition of the order of preventive suspension.” Thus, it said, “there was no evidence to prove that the Office of the Ombudsman committed grave abuse of discretion,"