Hole of Justice
By Peter G. JimeneaWhere is justice Omb. Apostol?
On August 2010, Deputy Ombudsman for Visayas Pelagio Apostol was tasked by Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro to probe further the involvement of Mayor Jerry Trenas (now congressman) in the failed Iloilo City Housing Project.
Since then we heard nothing about the complaint. Now is 19 months already and still no news from him. He should know that the mayor almost spent the entire P137M for the supposed construction of 413 low-cost houses that resulted to nothing. Not one was completed!
Jurisprudence dictates there is no general formula or fixed rule in determination of probable cause, oddly enough, this is an exceedingly rare instance. If the documents submitted to his office do not suffice to indict the man, why did he not dismiss the long-overdue complaint in his office?
Probable cause needs only to rest on evidence showing that more likely than not, a crime has been done. The unauthorized payment of the mayor to the contractor is embraced in RA 3019, enough for a first-year law student to believe that an offense charged has been committed.
Sec. 13, Mandate – the Ombudsman and Deputies, as protectors of the people shall act promptly on complaints filed against officers or employees of the government. Enforce administrative civil and criminal liability in every case where the evidence warrants in order to promote efficient service by the Government to the people.
But a complaint filed in 2004 by former city councilors Atty. Raul Gonzalez, Jr. and Atty. Antonio Pesina against then mayor Trenas is yet to see justice. Sleeping for 19 months at the Ombudsman-Visayas Office creates a bad impression that the delayed action is done in exchange for … you know what!
The last paragraph of Sec. 15, RA 6770 reads; – the Ombudsman shall give priority to complaints filed against high-ranking government officials and/or those occupying supervisory positions, complaints involving grave offenses as well as complaints involving large sums of money and/or properties.
But irony of it, a lady employee of the Ombudsman-Visayas, Iloilo Office pompously said over a television that they will investigate immediately the driver of a government vehicle caught parked-overnight in front of Dragon Lodge last month. What about prioritizing the P137M housing mess of former Mayor Trenas?
Sec. 26, (Par 2) of RA 6770 - the Office of the Ombudsman shall act on the complaint immediately and if it finds the same entirely baseless, it shall dismiss the same and inform the complainant of such dismissal citing the reasons thereof.
If it has a reasonable ground to investigate further, it shall first furnish the respondent public officer with a summary of the complaint and require him to submit a written answer within seventy-two hours from receipt thereof. If the answer is found satisfactory, it shall dismiss the case.
The law abhors technicalities that impede the cause of justice. The paramount public interest in this issue should be afforded the amplest opportunity for the proper and just determination of their cause free from the unacceptable plea of technicalities.
Deliberate or not, Deputy Ombudsman Apostol has committed an injustice to the taxpayers in this messy Iloilo City Housing project. His injustice lies fairly in the “delayed” resolution than “erroneous” decision which can be appealed immediately.
Atty, Romeo Gerochi also filed a suit against the mayor in this white elephant project. With three lawyers, I see no latent defect in the complaint. This is not a coram non judice – a suit brought before a Court without proper jurisdiction. So, …. see the title!te to the D
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