Recalled but not suspended Gonzales: Castro lied on relief issue

CEBU, Philippines – Department of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales said Cebu City Assistant Prosecutor Mary Ann Castro lied when she claimed that she has not been relieved from the Bureau of Immigration because she was already recalled since last week and ordered to report to him in Manila.

Gonzales made the clarification in an interview over dyLA following Castro’s claim that she did not yet receive any order recalling her from the BI.

According to Gonzales, he signed the recall order last Thursday and that his executive secretary, Philip dela Cruz, personally informed Castro about it.

Gonzales said Castro was ordered to report to him immediately to explain the complaints against her. But he clarified that Castro was not yet placed under preventive suspension, contrary to earlier reports quoting Secretary to the Cabinet Silvestre Bello III.

Gonzales explained that he cannot place Castro under preventive suspension without affording her the right to explain because it would be a violation of the Civil Service Commission law.

He said he would give Castro 72 hours to explain the complaints against her as soon as she reports to him in Manila.

Castro’s explanation will determine whether or not a preventive suspension is appropriate.

But in an interview with reporters yesterday, Castro said she did not make any false statement, standing firm on his position that she had not been recalled or suspended.

Castro said that as of 12:40 noon yesterday, she only received a letter directing her to report to the DOJ within 48 hours.

“The secretary won’t ask me to appear if he does not want to hear my side. I just want to show him what has happened. If this is the consequence of asserting my right, that is, recalling me from the bureau, which I don’t think the secretary will do,” Castro said.

Castro added that if worse comes to worst, the recall order won’t affect her. “It’s no big deal. I am still Mary Ann Castro, the indefatigable, unwavering and unflinching prosecutor of Cebu City.”

Gonzales recalled Castro from the BI a day after she filed a P20 million libel suit against Acting Executive Secretary Cerge Remonde before the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office.

The case stemmed from Remonde’s asking Gonzales to recall Castro from the BI and take appropriate disciplinary actions on her alleged irregularities. Gonzales did not anymore comment on Castro’s case against Remonde, saying it is Castro’s right to file a complaint. 

Remonde earlier asked Gonzales to recall Castro from the BI and take disciplinary action against her based on the request of BI regional director Casimiro Madarang III, who claimed that her presence at the bureau is divisive.

According to Remonde, he received copies of documents containing Castro’s alleged shenanigans at the BI that resulted to the filing of several graft complaints against her before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Japanese national Hideo Kikuchi recently filed a complaint against Castro for allegedly demanding a Mitsubishi Pajero and Mercedes Benz in exchange for the dismissal of the deportation case that his wife filed against him. Castro denied the charge. 

Madarang, in his complaint filed before the anti-graft office, accused Castro of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

He claimed that Castro is demanding overtime pay from the airport even if she is not entitled. Castro was accused of throwing her weight around, dropping names of Gonzales and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Castro was also allegedly “extorting money from foreigners as acceptance fee and extorting immigration officers of their allowances and pay under her usual threat of complaints and litigations,” the complaint read.

The complaint also cited her alleged unimplemented preventive suspension in 2005 in relation to a drug case she handled in 2002, and the recent anti-graft office order indicting her of the criminal case for perjury in connection with her filing of two petitions for annulment of marriage.

Meanwhile, Talisay City Assistant Prosecutor William Canta yesterday assumed the post of hearing officer at the immigration office yesterday. This after Gonzales issued an order dated April 30 detailing him at the BI.

But Canta, who will be hearing partial cases at the BI, clarified that he would not take over Castro’s position. He said he had applied for the position last year and it was only now that his application has been granted. — /LPM (THE FREEMAN)