554 Phil. 656
CARPIO, J.:
P. Villamor, et al. | P 5,100 |
L. Oyanib, et al. | 21,900 |
R. Makila, et al. | 74,950 |
M. Abada, et al. | 163,500 |
| P 265,450 |
WHEREFORE, premises considered, it is respectfully recommended that respondent MA. MELLY JAUD MAGBANUA be meted the penalty of SUSPENSION for SIX (6) MONTHS WITHOUT PAY for NEGLECT OF DUTY. For having been found guilty of DISHONESTY, respondent MONIN[]A BAJA is meted the penalty of DISMISSAL FROM SERVICE WITH FORFEITURE OF ALL BENEFITS AND DISQUALIFICATION TO HOLD PUBLIC OFFICE.[4]Petitioner reviewed the Decision of the Ombudsman Visayas. In a Memorandum dated 6 June 2000,[5] petitioner imposed upon both respondent and Baja the penalty of dismissal from the service, thus:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, and upon finding that respondent MA. MELLY JAUD MAGBANUA GUILTY of GROSS NEGLECT OF DUTY and for VIOLATIONS OF REASONABLE OFFICE RULES AND REGULATIONS and respondent MONINA BAJA GUILTY OF DISHONESTY, they are both meted the penalty of DISMISSAL from service pursuant to the provisions of Section 22(b) and (a), respectively, of Rule XIV of the Omnibus Rules Implementing Book V of Executive Order No. 292. The penalty prescribed under Section 22(c), a lesser offense, is deemed absorbed in a much graver offense.Respondent filed a motion for reconsideration. In an Order dated 28 May 2002,[7] petitioner denied the motion.
Accordingly, the herein reviewed Decision dated May 3, 2000 of GIO Corazon C. Arnado-Carrillo is hereby MODIFIED insofar as the recommended penalty of respondent MAGBANUA is concerned.[6]
SEC. 15. Powers, Functions and Duties. The Office of the Ombudsman shall have the following powers, functions ad duties:In ruling that the power of petitioner is only recommendatory, the Court of Appeals relied on the following statement of the Court in Tapiador:(1) Investigate and prosecute on its own or on complaint by any person, any act or omission of any public officer or employee, office or agency, when such act or omission appears to be illegal, unjust, improper or inefficient. It has primary jurisdiction over cases cognizable by the Sandiganbayan and, in the exercise of this primary jurisdiction, it may take over, at any stage, from any investigatory agency of Government, the investigation of such cases;SEC. 21. Officials Subject to Disciplinary Authority; Exceptions. The Office of the Ombudsman shall have disciplinary authority over all elective and appointive officials of the Government and its subdivisions, instrumentalities and agencies, including Members of the Cabinet, local government, government-owned or controlled corporations and their subsidiaries, except over officials who may be removed only by impeachment or over Members of Congress, and the Judiciary.
(2) x x x x
(3) Direct the officer concerned to take appropriate action against a public officer or employee at fault or who neglects to perform an act or discharge a duty required by law, and recommend his removal, suspension, demotion, fine, censure or prosecution, and ensure compliance therewith; or enforce its disciplinary authority as provided in Section 21 of this Act: Provided, That the refusal by any officer without just cause to comply with an order of the Ombudsman to remove, suspend, demote, fine, censure, or prosecute an officer or employee who is at fault or who neglects to perform an act or discharge a duty required by law shall be a ground for disciplinary action against said officer.
x x x x
x x x x
SEC. 25. Penalties. (1) In administrative proceedings under Presidential Decree No. 807, the penalties and rules provided therein shall be applied.
(2) In other administrative proceedings, the penalty ranging from suspension without pay for one year to dismissal with forfeiture of benefits or a fine ranging from five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) to twice the amount malversed, illegally taken or lost, or both at the discretion of the Ombudsman, taking into consideration circumstances that mitigate or aggravate the liability of the officer or employee found guilty of the complaint or charges. (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)
Besides, assuming arguendo, that petitioner [was] administratively liable, the Ombudsman has no authority to directly dismiss the petitioner from government service, more particularly from his position in the BID. Under Section 13, subparagraph (3), of Article XI of the 1987 Constitution, the Ombudsman can only "recommend" the removal of the public official or employee found to be at fault, to the public official concerned.[9]The Court has already settled this issue. In Ledesma v. Court of Appeals,[10] the Court observed that the main issue in Tapiador was the failure of the complainant to present substantial evidence to prove the charges in the administrative case. The Court ruled that the reference in Tapiador to the power of the Ombudsman is at best merely an obiter dictum. The Court ruled that the statement on the Ombudsman's power was not supported by sufficient explanation and was susceptible to varying interpretations. The Court categorically stated that the statement in Tapiador cannot be cited as a doctrinal declaration of the Court. The Court recognized the authority of the Office of the Ombudsman under Article XI of the 1987 Constitution and RA 6770, thus:
It has long been settled that the power of the Ombudsman to investigate and prosecute any illegal act or omission of any public official is not an exclusive authority but a shared or concurrent authority in respect of the offense charged. By stating therefore that the Ombudsman "recommends" the action to be taken against an erring officer or employee, the provisions in the Constitution and in RA 6770 intended that the implementation of the order be coursed through the proper officer x x x.More at point is the Office of the Ombudsman v. Court of Appeals.[12] In that case, the Office of the Ombudsman found respondents guilty of simple misconduct and meted on them the penalty of suspension for one month. The Court of Appeals affirmed the finding of the Office of the Ombudsman that respondents were guilty of simple misconduct but ruled that the Office of the Ombudsman committed grave abuse of discretion in imposing on them the penalty of suspension for one month. The Court of Appeals also cited Tapiador in ruling that the power of the Office of the Ombudsman is limited only to the recommendation of the penalty of removal, suspension, demotion, fine, censure, or prosecution of a public officer or employee found to be at fault.
It is thus clear that the framers of our Constitution intended to create a stronger and more effective Ombudsman, independent and beyond the reach of political influences and vested with powers that are not merely persuasive in character. The Constitutional Commission left to [the] Congress to empower the Ombudsman with prosecutorial functions which it did when RA 6770 was enacted. x x x.[11]
In the present case, the Court similarly upholds the Office of the Ombudsman's power to impose the penalty of removal, suspension, demotion, fine, censure, or prosecution of a public officer or employee found to be at fault, in the exercise of its administrative disciplinary authority. The exercise of such power is well founded in the Constitution and Republic Act No. 6770.In Estarija v. Ranada,[15] petitioner assailed as unconstitutional his dismissal from the service by the Ombudsman. Petitioner in Estarija alleged that the Ombudsman did not have direct and immediate power to remove government officials, whether elective or appointive, who are not removable by impeachment. The Court upheld the constitutionality of Sections 15, 21, and 25 of RA 6770, thus affirming that the powers of the Office of the Ombudsman are not merely recommendatory. The Court ruled in Estarija that under RA 6770 and the 1987 Constitution, the Ombudsman has the constitutional power to directly remove from government service an erring public official, other than a member of Congress and the Judiciary.
x x x x
[The] provisions in Republic Act No. 6770 taken together reveal the manifest intent of the lawmakers to bestow on the Office of the Ombudsman full administrative disciplinary authority. These provisions cover the entire gamut of administrative adjudication which entails the authority to, inter alia, receive complaints, conduct investigations, hold hearings in accordance with its rules of procedure, summon witnesses and require the production of documents, place under preventive suspension public officers and employees pending an investigation, determine the appropriate penalty imposable on erring public officers or employees as warranted by the evidence, and necessarily, impose the said penalty.
x x x x
The legislative history of Republic Act No. 6770 thus bears out the conclusion that the Office of the Ombudsman was intended to possess full administrative disciplinary authority, including the power to impose the penalty of removal, suspension, demotion, fine, censure, or prosecution of a public officer or employee found to be at fault. The lawmakers envisioned the Office of the Ombudsman to be "an activist watchman," not merely a passive one. x x x.[14]