Ombudsman probe on Capitol sedition begins
The Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas found “enough basis” on the sedition complaint filed against four top officials of the Iloilo Provincial Government. As such, the matter has now been elevated to a case with corresponding criminal investigation now underway.
Docketed as OMB-V-C-07-0042-A, Ombudsman Director Edgardo Canton ordered Governor Niel Tupas Sr., his son Board Member Niel Tupas Jr., Provincial Administrator Manuel Mejorada and retired Police Superintendent Juan Mabugat, Iloilo Rehabilitation Center (IRC) warden to file counter-affidavits and other evidences in their defense.
The four were told to answer “strictly within ten days” and submit copies both to the Ombudsman and the complainants headed by Vice Governor Roberto Armada.
“Failure to comply as herein directed within the period prescribed by the rules shall be deemed a waiver of the right to present the party’s counter-affidavit or reply-affidavit and the investigation shall proceed according to existing rules,” excerpts of the Ombudsman went.
Further still the anti-Graft body ruled that Motion to Dismiss, Motion for Bill of Particulars “and other similar dilatory motions are prohibited pleadings and shall be stricken off the records of the case.”
The Capitol respondent-officials, according to Capitol lawyer, Salvador Cabaluna II will comply with the Ombudsman Order as he later confirmed receipt of such in a Bombo Radyo interview.
The sedition raps was filed as an offshoot of the double dismissal orders from the Office of the Ombudsman addressed to Tupas Sr., board members Domingo Oso Jr. (Fourth District) and Cecilia Capadosa (Second District).
The anti-Graft body found the trio guilty of dishonesty in a case filed by the Iloilo People’s Graftwatch of Iloilo.
The dismissal orders were served by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) however Tupas and his camp refused to receive such saying the order was illegal.
For days thereafter, the dismissed officials holed up in the Capitol building where dump trucks were used to block the various entrance and exit points. Capitol doors were likewise locked as members of militant groups conducted day long protest rallies condemning the government.
Earlier, a special panel of the Ombudsman also conducted a probe on the purported ‘overkill’ of the corresponding police operation that heard contrasting accounts of the Tupas camp and top police officials.