Garcia guilty of grave misconduct, but...

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman has found suspended Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia guilty of grave misconduct for her involvement in the so-called Balili land deal anomaly of 2008.

However, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said Garcia could no longer be sanctioned because of her re-election in 2010.

Citing Supreme Court rulings, the anti-graft agency said Garcia and Provincial Board Member Juan Bolo, who was also found guilty of the administrative offense, were deemed to have been forgiven by her constituents.

Quoting jurisprudence, the Office of the Ombudsman explained that “a re-elected local official may not be held administratively accountable for misconduct committed during his prior term of office.”

“The rationale for this holding is that when the electorate put him back into office, it is presumed that it did so with full knowledge of his life and character including his past misconduct. If, armed with such knowledge, it still re-elects him, then such re-election is considered a condonation of his past misdeeds,” the High Court’s decision, anchored on what is commonly known as the Aguinaldo Doctrine, states.

Though the Office of the Ombudsman is no longer allowed to sanction Garcia and Bolo, it ordered the dismissal from the service other officials of the Cebu provincial government for grave misconduct arising from the same irregular land purchase five years ago.

Ombudsman Morales said Anthony Sususco, Roy Salubre, and Eulogio Pelayre of the Provincial Appraisal Committee and Emme Gingoyon as Provincial Budget Officer were ordered dismissed from the service with accessory penalties.

On the other hand, the administrative charges leveled against Mariflor Vero, Michelle Languido, Roger Dumayac, and Pilar Yburan, all members of the Technical Working Group; and Sangguniang Panlalawigan members Victor Maambong, Julian Daan, Wilfredo Caminero, Peter John Calderon, Joven Mondigo Jr., Teresita Celes, Rosemarie Durano, Wenceslao Gakit, Alfred Francis Ouano and Bea Mercede Calderon were all dismissed. – With Freeman