Arroyo allies gang up on Villa Ignacio

MANILA, Philippines — Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez has found supporters in the House of Representatives in her quarrel with Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio. On Tuesday, lawmakers allied with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ganged up on Villa-Ignacio for claiming that the Office of the Ombudsman was “being influenced by politics and was mismanaged, leading to a drop in its conviction rate." The Office of the Special Prosecutor is the prosecuting arm of the Office of the Ombudsman. Cavite Rep. Jesus Crispin “Boying" Remulla insinuated that Villa-Ignacio was coveting Gutierrez's position. Villa-Ignacio was expected to be appointed Ombudsman when Simeon Marcelo resigned in December 2005, but the President instead picked Gutierrez, a classmate of first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. “I’m beginning to believe that his attacks against Gutierrez are fueled by his personal ambition. He cannot be an Ombudsman with this kind of attitude. He should wait for his time to come instead of attacking the institution," Remulla said. Remulla said he was told that Villa-Ignacio had not been reporting for work after deposed President Estrada was convicted for plunder charges in Sept. 2007. Villa-Ignacio played a key role in the successful prosecution of Estrada. “He does not even go to the office regularly nor does he conduct case conferences with his deputies, directors and prosecutors for case build-up which is very essential in ensuring the successful prosecution of cases," Remulla said. Remulla reminded Villa-Ignacio that as head of the prosecuting arm of the Ombudsman, he is also partly to blame or “responsible" if ever there is indeed a decline in its conviction rating, being a part of the whole independent institution. North Cotabato Rep. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza described Villa-Ignacio’s tirades against Gutierrez as “too childish and very ungentleman-like" and does not sit well on his position as special prosecutor. “If he is confident that the case against him has no legal basis, a good lawyer like him can always defend himself in court," she said of Villa-Ignacio’s claim that he is being subjected to “pure harassment" when Gutierrez gave due course to an estafa (fraud) case filed against him by his deputy Elvira Chua. Speaker Prospero Nograles cautioned Villa-Ignacio against resorting to media attacks to discredit and publicly malign Ombudsman Gutierrez on the basis of “speculations and paranoia." “If Villa-Ignacio holds no respect on Gutierrez as head of the anti-graft body, he should at least respect the office which is leading the fight against graft and corruption," he gave his unsolicited advice. Nograles added that while “office intramurals are a day-to-day affair inside private and government offices, Villa-Ignacio has already gone overboard by publicly maligning Gutierrez for reasons that can be best settled in a very civil and face-to-face discussion." “This is foul. Villa-Ignacio should realize that publicly maligning Ombudsman is also an attack to the office itself. If he has personal issues against the Ombudsman, he should bring this up personally to her instead of going to the media," he said. “There’s nothing better than talking things out to smoothen relationships instead of public confrontations. I really hope that Villa-Ignacio would stop this nonsense and buckle down to work. There so much work to do," he added. Rep. Antonio Cerilles of Zamboanga del Sur said it is “unfair" to claim that the conviction rate dropped under Gutierrez’s term, compared to her predecessor Simeon Marcelo, since most convictions were filed during Gutierrez’s predecessors. Citing records obtained from the Sandiganbayan, Cerilles revealed that from January to July 2008, the anti-graft court released its ruling on 58 cases filed by the Office of the Ombudsman, 11 of which got conviction while 47 were dismissed. Of the 11 convictions, one was filed during the tenure of former Ombudsman Francisco Villa, six during the time of Aniano Desierto, one during the time of Acting Ombudsman Margarito Gervacio and three under the watch of Marcelo. Of the 47 dismissed cases, 30 were filed during the time of Desierto, five under Gervacio and 12 under Marcelo. “Villa-Ignacio’s basis of comparison is already inaccurate because the cases that he has cited are informations that were filed mostly by Ombudsman Marcelo’s predecessors," Cerilles stressed. “He also failed to mention that five cases of the 47 acquittals that came from January to July this year were granted demurrer to evidence, wherein Villa-Ignacio was the one who approved and signed the information," Cerilles, also a lawyer, pointed out. “He claims to be an excellent prosecutor, what does this mean? For those who are in the law profession, this is a failure of prosecution," he stressed. - GMANews.TV