Monday, August 02, 2004 It’s up to solicitor general to pursue Mary Ann Castro case: ombudsman
THE Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas is shrugging off the appellate court’s reversal of an earlier administrative decision and order to suspend Mary Ann Castro for six months.
Ombudsman Director Edgardo Canton, in an interview yesterday, said it is the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) in Manila, not the anti-graft office in Cebu, which is pursuing the case that stemmed from the complaint filed by one Charito Ocampo.
“They (OSG) will most probably file a motion for reconsideration against the decision. They also have the option of elevating the matter to the Supreme Court,” he said.
The anti-graft office no longer has any part in the case, Canton said.
It has not even received a copy of the said Court of Appeals decision. Canton said that all communication pertaining to the Castro case is probably addressed to the OSG.
Castro’s threat
Canton also said they are ready to face Castro’s threat of filing a damages suit against the anti-graft office for recommending her suspension.
“Our findings were made in good faith,” he said.
The ombudsman has issued a total of three suspensions against Castro last year.
She was ordered suspended for three months for allegedly accepting (but subsequently returning) bribe money in a drug case.
Then came the six months suspension for the Ocampo complaint.
Later, she was again ordered suspended for three months for allegedly using policemen to harass businesswoman Emily Rose Kho Lim Chao over a business deal between Lim Chao and the prosecutor’s brother.
She has managed to obtain reversals for the bribery and the Ocampo incident. Only the Lim Chao incident remains.
Castro, in a separate interview, said she hopes she will be cleared in all of the incidents.
“The Lim Chao case is the weakest,” she said.
The appellate court, in a decision dated July 23, reversed the anti-graft office’s order in the Ocampo incident, where Castro allegedly moved to dismiss a 2001 case even if it was raffled off to another prosecutor and in another court.
Violation
Deputy Ombudsman Primo Miro ruled earlier to suspend Castro for six months upon the recommendation of Graft Investigator Charina Navarro-Quijano.
Castro, based on Quijano’s investigation, submitted a report that recommended the dismissal of the criminal case Ocampo filed against the owners of Audionet Trading even if the case was being prosecuted by Assistant City Prosecutor Jesus Feliciano.
According to Ocampo, Castro’s recommendations on the dismissal of her case was made and submitted without the court’s approval. She said it was in violation of the Crespo vs. Mogul jurisprudence, a charge that Quijano, in her decision, agreed with.
“There is nothing that shall prevent the City Prosecutor and his assistants from entertaining and conducting a review of a case in the event a motion for reconsideration is filed in their offices,” the appellate court said in reference to the more recent Dimatullac vs. Villon ruling. KNR
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