MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman ordered yesterday the dismissal from service of Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) Board of Trustees chairman Prospero Pichay Jr. and two other ranking officials for grave misconduct in connection with their unlawful use of P780 million in state funds for acquiring Express Savings Bank Inc. in 2009.
Acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro said Pichay, acting Administrator Daniel Landingin and acting Deputy Administrator Wilfredo Feleo are stripped of all benefits and permanently disqualified from working in government.
Pichay, a former Surigao del Sur congressman and a staunch supporter of the Arroyo administration, called the Ombudsman’s order “political harassment.”
“The penalty of dismissal from the service with the accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from public office and forfeiture of all benefits is imposed upon them,” Casimiro said through his spokesperson Rawnsle Lopez.
Casimiro added that the dismissal order against Pichay, Landingin, and Feleo is immediately executory pursuant to the rules of the Office of the Ombudsman.
More than a month ago, the anti-graft agency issued a six-month preventive suspension order on the LWUA officials.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by LWUA employees Rustico Tutol, Luis DG. Estrada, and Carmen Amores.
The employees accused Pichay, Landingin, Feleo and corporate legal officer and Board Secretary Arnaldo Espinas of violating Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
The officials were accused of investing P780 million of LWUA funds in ESBI, a private banking institution, in violation of the rules of the General Appropriations Act and without prior approval from the Monetary Board.
The investment allowed LWUA to gain 20 percent of the bank’s voting stock.
It was not clear when the ombudsman intended to file criminal charges with the Sandiganbayan against the three.
Meanwhile, Pichay said the Aquino administration was getting back at him for his staunch support for the previous Arroyo administration.
“The Acting Ombudsman has committed a grave abuse of discretion. Casimiro has become an instrument of injustice of the Aquino administration,” Pichay said in a telephone interview.
He said Casimiro in the past few weeks has been busy filing and resolving cases against officials of the previous administration in a last-ditch attempt to boost his chances of ultimately bagging the position of ombudsman.
“I think this is his way of ingratiating himself with the present administration. If he thinks this is one way of fooling the administration, good luck. I hope that his conscience will not bother him for the rest of his life,” Pichay said.