Gutierrez to stay for now, Palace admits

A day after it said it is studying ways to ease out Merceditas Gutierrez as Ombudsman, Malacañang admitted Saturday it cannot do so immediately. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Office of the Ombudsman is a constitutional body and Gutierrez will have to stay for the moment. “Wala pang decision (There is no decision), we don’t know yet. That is a constitutional body that will have to stay for now," Lacierda said on government-run dzRB radio, when asked about the Palace’s plans for a new Ombudsman. He also insisted there was no discussion on who will replace Gutierrez, who has been perceived as a close ally to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Gutierrez, a batchmate of former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo at the Ateneo Law School, enjoys a fixed term as Ombudsman that ends in 2012. When asked who the Palace may consider a replacement for Gutierrez, Lacierda said, “walang ganyang pag-uusap (there is no such discussion)." On Friday, Lacierda said President Benigno Aquino III wants “an independent Ombudsman who will really investigate corruption cases in government." He indicated one of the options to remove Gutierrez would be through impeachment. Lacierda said they are also studying the legality of Gutierrez’s term. Other possible options include “just speak(ing) to Ombudsman Gutierrez," and asking for her early retirement. Lacierda said the exclusion of Mrs. Arroyo in the Ombudsman’s complaint on the P728-million fertilizer fund scam – Mrs. Arroyo at the time enjoying presidential immunity from prosecution – only goes to show that justice is hard to achieve with Gutierrez as the country’s chief graft buster. — LBG, GMANews.TV