SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court on Tuesday, October 21, affirmed its dismissal of an anti-graft court justice linked to alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.
In a statement on Tuesday, the High Court said it denied the motion for reconsideration of Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Gregory Ong, which he filed on October 13, “for lack of merit.”
On September 23, the Court voted 8-5-2 declaring Ong guilty of gross misconduct, dishonesty and impropriety. The ruling forfeits all his retirement benefits, except accrued leave credits and perpetual disqualification from re-employment in government service.
The Court upheld its ruling on October 21, and reiterated that Ong violated the New Code of Judicial Conduct when he acquitted Napoles in a malversation case involving the sale of 500 Kevlar helmets to the Philippine Marines in 1998.
The 8 justices who agreed to dismiss Ong are Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, and Justices Arturo Brion, Mariano Del Castillo, Martin Villarama Jr, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Marvic Leonen, and Francis Jardeleza.
Those who dissented are Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr, Lucas Bersamin, Jose Perez, Jose Mendoza and Bienvenido Reyes, who wanted a of 3-month suspension for Ong for simple misconduct.
Justices Teresita Leonardo-De Castro and Diosdado Peralta, both former justices of the anti-graft court, inhibited from the case.
Rappler exposed Ong’s links to Napoles in August 2013 at the height of the pork barrel scandal which has since become the worst corruption case in recent Philippine history. (READ: Exclusive: Napoles parties with anti-graft court justice) – Rappler.com
Add a comment
How does this make you feel?
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.