Negros Oriental Gov. Roel R. Degamo has shrugged off the Ombudsman’s third Dismissal Order against him, saying he is still covered by the Aguinaldo Doctrine.
Degamo told reporters Thursday that Visayas Deputy Ombudsman Edgar Paul Clemente changed the Aguinaldo Doctrine when he issued the Dismissal Order.
The Dismissal Order, that was announced last Thursday, was based on a complaint filed by then Board Member Melliemoore Saycon after Degamo spent P10 million for his Intelligence Fund in 2013 despite the absence of a corresponding appropriation law from the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.
The Supreme Court abandoned the Aguinaldo Doctrine in a 2015 decision. Lawyer Richard Enojo pointed out that Degamo was sued before his reelection in 2013, two years before the Supreme Court decision on the Binay case. “I don’t think Visayas Deputy Ombudsman Clemente and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, who is a retired justice, do not know the meaning of prospective application of the abandonment of the Aguinaldo doctrine,” Enojo said.
Degamo, on the other hand, said he believes that the Ombudsman is getting personal with him in the latest decision to dismiss him from public service. He said this may be connected to a complaint he filed against the Visayas Deputy Ombudsman and others for grave abuse of authority and for selective justice.
This is the third time for Degamo to be ordered Dismissed by the Ombudsman for alleged grave abuse of authority. The two previous cases had been reversed by the Court of Appeals and is now pending before the Supreme Court.
The first case stemmed from the complaint by June Vincent Gaudan on the release of the calamity fund despite the absence of an Internal Revenue Allotment. The second case stemmed from a complaint filed by Board Member Jessica Villanueva regarding the progress billing, also of the same calamity fund.
On Thursday morning, news broke out that Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales has ordered the dismissal of Gov. Degamo after he was found guilty of grave misconduct for the “anomalous utilization of the province’s 2013 budget.”
A media release from the Ombudsman’s Office also said “the dismissal order carries the accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from holding public office, cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits and bar from taking the civil service examination.”
The Ombudsman also ordered the filing of charges against Degamo for violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019), the press release said.
The Ombudsman found that in October 2012, Degamo submitted to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) the proposed budget for 2013 which included an item for Intelligence Expenses in the amount of Php 10 million. On 15 January 2013, the SP enacted the appropriation ordinance but the Php 10 million intelligence fund was deleted, it further said.
In response, Degamo tendered his veto on the “questionable deletion or non-inclusion of the item on confidential/intelligence fund, which veto was not overridden by the SP.” On 15 April 2013, Degamo issued a memorandum directing the release of the Php 10 million intelligence fund “without further delay,” the media release said.
Records show that the next day, a cash advance for the payment of expenses of different activities related to intelligence operation in the amount of Php 10 million was released to Governor Degamo.
Upon audit, the Commission on Audit (COA) Regional Office determined that the “cash advance was made in the absence of an approved appropriation ordinance in violation of Section 305(a) of the Local Government Code and Section 4(1) of the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines.”
The Ombudsman ruled that “as appropriation ordinance no. 1, series of 2013, does not contain any item on confidential/intelligence fund, the release of the cash advance in the amount of P10million was not supported by the necessary appropriation,” according to the media release.
“This violates the Local Government Code and Government Auditing Code,” stated Ombudsman Morales. She explained that the codes “provide that no money shall be paid out of the local treasury except in pursuance of an appropriations ordinance or law. Degamo’s act of insisting for the release of the cash advance despite the apparent absence of the necessary appropriation is thus a clear badge of willful intent to violate the laws and established rules.”
Ombudsman Morales directed the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government to implement the order. Copies of the decision were also given to the regional offices of the Civil Service Commission, Commission on Elections, COA and the GSIS.
Degamo is serving a 90-preventive suspension, starting Oct. 18, and will not return to work until January next year, for another case filed against him for alleged misuse of the province’s calamity fund.
Meanwhile, the provincial office of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Negros Oriental has yet to receive a copy of the order of the Office of the Ombudsman.
Provincial DILG officer Dennis Quiñones explained that without a copy of the order, his office could not serve the same.
He said they will await the directive of the DILG Secretary, who will course his instructions through the agency’s regional office. (Juancho Gallarde and Judy Flores Partlow/PNA)