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Enrile advises Merci: Stay out of deputy's dismissal case


Saying she has enough problems of her own, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Sunday advised Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez to keep her distance from Malacañang’s order dismissing her deputy, Emilio Gonzalez III. The Senate will begin Gutierrez's impeachment trial in May. Enrile also pointed out Malacañang was well within its rights to order Gonzalez’s dismissal because the President has the power to hire and fire anyone except those who the Constitution and the laws say can be removed only through impeachment. "Kung ako siya I will let the processes of the law take its course," Enrile said in an interview on radio dzBB. "'Yung si Deputy Ombudsman Gonzalez, abogado yan, eh (Deputy Ombudsman Gonzalez is a lawyer," Enrile explained. "He should know how to protect himself ." "Ito si Merceditas Gutierrez, eh, huwag na huwag siyang makikihalo riyan dahil meron siyang kaso, eh (This Merceditas Gutierrez, she shouldn’t get mixed up in this because she has her own case )," he added. He pointed out that while the Ombudsman is independent, its office and personnel "are under the supervision and control of the President because the President is the Chief Executive." Dismissal for mishandling hostage-taker’s case On Friday, Malacañang announced the dismissal of Gonzalez for mishandling the case of the late police Inspector Rolando Mendoza, who held hostage a busload of Hong Kong tourists last year. Mendoza was killed by policemen after shooting dead eight Hong Kong tourists in the 11-hour standoff on Aug. 23 last year. Gutierrez defied Malacañang, saying Gonzalez had already been acquitted in an internal probe. She said the matter of her deputy’s culpability is "legally final and closed." Gutierrez said an internal investigation by her office had already found Gonzalez not culpable for the deadly hostage-taking crisis in Manila’s Luneta park. "This Office has considered the matter of Deputy Ombudsman Gonzales' culpability in the hijacking episode as legally final and closed," she said. In dismissing Gonzalez, the Palace noted it took nine months for him to rule on the motion for reconsideration filed by Mendoza. Enrile pointed out Gonzalez was a presidential appointee and thus removable by Malacañang. He added Gutierrez is the only impeachable officer in the Office of the Ombudsman. The Senate President also agreed with Malacañang, which said that while Gonzalez can appeal his dismissal, he will have to go to the higher courts to get an injunctive relief. "Unless there is any injunction or TRO, executory ang decision ng Presidente (the President’s decision is executory)," Enrile said. "(The) President has the power of control and supervision over all employees and executives of the various departments of government, except only those exempted from that by the Constitution," Enrile explained. "The President has the power to hire and fire, the power to appoint and the power to remove, except when the Constitution itself or the laws establish a different norm of removal, in which case those manners of removal established in the Constitution or the laws must be followed." Dismissal order ‘has basis’ Enrile said the Palace's dismissal order served on Gonzalez has basis especially since Gonzalez took nine months to act on Mendoza’s case. He said that if he were President Benigno Aquino III, he too would have disciplined Gonzalez for sitting on the case. "Masyadong matagal 'yan. Bakit pinatulog 'yan? Anong ginawa in nine months — pinagaralan every word ng kaso ni Mendoza? Eh, medyo kaduda-duda 'yan. Ako mismo, kung ako nasa lugar ng Presidente, magdududa ako, anong ginagawa mo riyan? (That's too long. Why was it allowed to sleep? What was done in nine months – studying every word in Mendoza’s case? I myself, if I was in the shoes of the President, I would be suspicious, what are you doing there?)," Enrile said. "One month, maybe... two months, maybe, is a reasonable time. Pero, my God, nine months. Ano yun? (But, my God, nine months. What’s that?)" he added. Palace: Deputy ombudsman given due process In Malacañang, meanwhile, deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte said Gonzalez was given due process, but the deputy ombudsman snubbed his own formal hearing. "The former deputy ombudsman was given due process. He did file his answer when he asked for a formal hearing, which the Office of the President gave him but hindi naman siya sumipot (he did not show up)," Valte said on government-run radio dzRB. “So, hindi po ito (this was not) something that was decided unilaterally by the Office of the President," she added. Valte also said Gonzalez has 60 days to avail of his legal remedies, after which the dismissal order becomes final and executory and the Office of the Ombudsman is required to implement it. She declined to comment on whether Gonzalez will be bodily removed from his office once the order becomes final and executory, saying the Palace will not make prejudgments. – MRT/VS/KBK/HS, GMA Network

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