FORMER Cebu vice governor Democrito Barcenas yesterday urged the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to resolve all graft and corruption cases filed against government officials and employees that have been pending for years.
This, as former Dangerous Drugs Board vice chairman Clarence Paul Oaminal is backing the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)-Cebu City chapter’s endorsement of Barcenas to be a Department of Justice (DOJ) undersecretary.
Oaminal said Barcenas is qualified to become a ranking DOJ official under the administration of president-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, considering his extensive experience in the practice of law, in the local legislative body and his being a
former IBP-Cebu City head.
“I believe the Aquino administration is a government of conscience, that men should be appointed to government positions according to the merit of their qualifications. And Atty. Barcenas is one of them,” he said.
Barcenas said it is unfortunate that the graft office failed to resolve the cases against mayors, governors and other elected officials in Regions 6, 7 and 8 before the May 10, 2010 elections even if some of these cases were filed a few years ago.
Guilty
As a result, those who were re-elected in their positions will escape punishment in the administrative aspect of their cases even if they have been found guilty because of the Supreme Court ruling on the case against the late Cagayan Valley governor Rodolfo Aguinaldo, also called the Aguinaldo Doctrine.
In the Aguinaldo versus Luis Santos et al case, the High Tribunal, in a ruling in 1992, absolved Aguinaldo’s administrative liability.
Barcenas said under the same Aguinaldo Doctrine, Barcenas said whatever offense the officials committed during their previous term has been “legally condoned” by their re-election to office.
Barcenas said because a new administration is coming in by July 1, the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas must act now and resolve all the pending cases.
Evidence
Barcenas, one of the leaders of the Noy-Mar Movement in Cebu during the May 10 elections, said those who were re-elected into office may escape the administrative penalty but must be charged criminally if there is strong evidence against them.
Yesterday, a Manila-based newspaper reported that the Senate allies of President-elect Benigno Aquino III want the incoming administration to find ways to replace Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierez, if it wants its anti-corruption drive to produce results.
Elected, appointed
Sen. Francis Pangilinan said since Gutierez was appointed Ombudsman by President Arroyo in December 2005, she has been criticized for sitting on graft cases against public officials, elected or appointed.
On the other hand, Barcenas said he learned that several cases were resolved by the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas and that the office recommended the prosecution of those indicted, but are still pending review by Gutierez’s office.
“Giyak-an ang mga kaso sa Manila kay ang mga opisyales sa Sugbo nga gipangkiha dunay mga connections didto (The respondents have connections in Manila),” Barcenas said.
In supporting Barcenas’s endorsement as a DOJ official, Oaminal said the lawyer has been a loyal supporter of the Liberal Party (LP) candidates even after the stint of the late President Corazon Aquino, who was catapulted to the presidency through a military-backed people power that toppled the Marcos regime in 1986.
“His loyalty to the Aquinos is beyond question. He has been helping the LP candidates as a legal counsel-volunteer without expecting a financial reward or getting a government post in return,” Oaminal said.
Oaminal said he witnessed Barcenas’s consistency and loyalty to the party both in the 1995 and 1998 elections, wherein he extended his full support to the party’s official candidates.
Oaminal was then Cebu chairman of the Kabataang Liberal ng Pilipinas, the LP’s youth group.
He said the last time LP fielded its own presidential and vice presidential bets was in the 1998 national polls.
Mayor-elect Fred Lim and returning Senator Serge Osmeña were LP’s bets for president and vice president, respectively, he said.