Pichay ouster final - Palace

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday ruled out any chances that chairman Prospero Pichay may stay a little longer at the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), saying the dismissal order of the Office of the Ombudsman is final and executory, although without prejudice to any judicial relief.

“He can still file an appeal before the courts, but this decision of the ombudsman that carried the penalty of dismissal is immediately executory even if his appeal will remain pending,” clarified deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte.

“He can be removed from office through this order, but that does not foreclose his availment of legal remedies available to him, and that includes seeking relief from higher courts,” she said.

Valte said Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. has already written Health Secretary Enrique Ona to inform him about Pichay’s dismissal, since LWUA is an attached agency of the Department of Health.

“I have checked with the office of Secretary Ona and they have written to the acting administrator of LWUA, giving instructions to effect the order of dismissal by the Office of the Ombudsman to Pichay,” she said.

Pichay, a former colleague of President Aquino in the House of Representatives, said he plans to question before the Court of Appeals the dismissal order issued against him by acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro for alleged misuse of funds in 2008.

The former Surigao del Sur congressman also branded Casimiro as an “overacting ombudsman” for his supposed zeal in going after officials allied with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“We expect him to show off and file cases left and right because he is vying for the top ombudsman post. For the last three weeks, he did nothing but file cases against officials of the former administration,” Pichay complained. “Overacting Ombudsman Casimiro is apparently now being an instrument of injustice of the new government under President Aquino,” he said. “My next step is to elevate my case to the CA. The irregularities in the Casimiro resolution are very glaring.” 

The Office of the Ombudsman ordered the dismissal from duty of Pichay and two other officials for acquiring a troubled thrift bank in 2008.

Casimiro found Pichay, acting administrator Daniel Landingin and acting deputy administrator Wilfredo Feleo liable for grave misconduct for their “unlawful disbursement” of P780 million in LWUA funds to invest in the Laguna-based thrift bank Express Savings Bank Inc. (EXSBI).

However, Pichay said the accusations were baseless, belying the Ombudsman’s claims he had no approval from the Office of the President.

He insisted the LWUA under him exercised due diligence before acquiring the bank. 

“Those accusations are not true, especially that it did not have the approval of the Office of the President. We have documents to prove that. We exercised due diligence,” he insisted.