MANILA, Philippines - The Court of Appeals (CA) junked a former prosecutor's petition arguing against his dismissal from service by the Ombudsman due to falsification of his work leaves.
CA 9th Division Associate Justice Myra Garcia-Fernandez said in a 20-page decision on Monday that there were sufficient grounds for the dismissal of Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio in 2010 when he was accused of serious dishonesty in faking his records.
In upholding the Ombudsman's move, the court "finds nothing in the records to show irregularity in the proceedings or handling of the complaint against the petitioner," the decision said, as noted in a state news report.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor had discovered that Villa-Ignacio was absent for work for 113 days in 2008, while his secretary took 166 leaves of absence that year.
The court affirmed the June 17, 2010 decision of the Internal Affairs Board of the Office of the Ombudsman. Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Fernanda Lampas Peralta and Francisco Acosta.
Villa-Ignacio is known to have led the team of government prosecutors in the plunder conviction of deposed President Joseph Estrada.
In 2009, he maintained that the cases against him before the office of then Ombudsman Mercedita Gutierrez was a political ploy to prevent him from pursuing several graft cases on his desk.
The CA said, however, that there is "no question" about the Ombudsman's power to remove erring public officials from government service.
"The powers, functions and duties of the Ombudsman are set forth in Section 15 of Republic Act No. 6770 entitled the Ombudsman Act of 1989," the recent ruling stated.
Villa-Ignacio was also tapped to join the prosecution team in the impeachment case against Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2011.