Melchor Arthur Carandang, up close

(1st UPDATE) The Supreme Court Third Division also rules that Melchor Arthur Carandang is entitled to receive his salaries corresponding to the period of his suspension and dismissal, as well as his retirement benefits. Melchor Arthur Carandang has emerged this Saturday as one of the stories drawing attention in Philippines.

Key facts

• (1st UPDATE) The Supreme Court Third Division also rules that Melchor Arthur Carandang is entitled to receive his salaries corresponding to the period of his suspension and dismissal, as well as his retirement benefits.
• The Third Division, through the ruling penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh, also voided the June 14, 2019 Office of the Ombudsman decision that ordered Melchor Arthur Carandang to cease from serving as ODO and declared his post vacant.
• Duterte fired Carandang in 2018, but the latter was supposed to retire in 2020.
• Duterte’s Office of the President (OP) fired Carandang after he was found liable for graft and corruption and betrayal of public trust, in an order dated July 30, 2018.
• But when Duterte appointee Samuel Martires became the Ombudsman in 2019, Martires said he had no choice but to dismiss Carandang.

What we know

Going deeper, the Third Division, through the ruling penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh, also voided the June 14, 2019 Office of the Ombudsman decision that ordered Melchor Arthur Carandang to cease from serving as ODO and declared his post vacant.

On the substance, Duterte fired Carandang in 2018, but the latter was supposed to retire in 2020.

Beyond the headlines, Duterte’s Office of the President (OP) fired Carandang after he was found liable for graft and corruption and betrayal of public trust, in an order dated July 30, 2018.

More precisely, But when Duterte appointee Samuel Martires became the Ombudsman in 2019, Martires said he had no choice but to dismiss Carandang.

It is worth noting that Carandang’s case reached the SC for review because the Court of Appeals granted the former ODO’s petition in 2021, voiding the OP’s order and dismissing the complaints against him.

By the numbers

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What they're saying

“It would be nothing short of a constitutional paradox, and a direct affront to accountability, if former president Duterte were allowed to sanction Carandang, one of the remaining officials explicitly empowered to hold government actors to account,” the High Court explained.

“He is likewise entitled to receive the salaries corresponding to the period of his preventive suspension and dismissal, but only up to the end of his term,” the High Court added.

“This highlights the very reason constitutional and statutory limits on presidential authority exist: to safeguard the rule of law and prevent the concentration of unchecked power,” the SC said.

The wider context

On a related note, this is AI generated summarization, which may have errors.

Going deeper, On top of these, the SC Third Division also ruled that Carandang is entitled to all retirement benefits effective until his term’s expiration.

On the substance, the dismissal’s ground was alleged breach of confidentiality and graft when Carandang made statements on the bank investigation into Duterte’s wealth.

Beyond the headlines, since the Office of the Ombudsman is an independent constitutional body, the question back then was whether Duterte had the power to dismiss Carandang.

“With [Conchita] Carpio-Morales recused and Carandang removed, the Office of the Ombudsman was left virtually headless with even fewer individuals willing or able to enforce accountability in government, the president, in particular.

The bottom line

• The Third Division, through the ruling penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh, also voided the June 14, 2019 Office of the Ombudsman decision that ordered Melchor Arthur Carandang to cease from serving as ODO and declared his post vacant.
• This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors.
• The dismissal’s ground was alleged breach of confidentiality and graft when Carandang made statements on the bank investigation into Duterte’s wealth.