Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez personally hands over her resignation letter to President Aquino. Jay MoralesUPDATED 3:30 p.m. - As she announced her resignation on Friday afternoon, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez said her loyalty has always been to the Filipino people and not to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who appointed her to office five years ago.
At a press conference, Gutierrez said she submitted to President Benigno Simeon Aquino III on Friday her resignation effective on May 6, or three days before the Senate impeachment trial against her was set to begin on May 9.
Gutierrez said while she was grateful to Arroyo for having appointed her to office, her "undivided loyalty" was to the Filipino people, and not to the former President.
She said she wanted to erase the "misconception" that she is an Arroyo lackey, having been a batch mate of Mrs. Arroyo's husband former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo at the Ateneo Law School.
"As I leave the Office of the Ombudsman, however, it is my fervent hope that the misconception bred that having been appointed to public office by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, I owed my allegiance to her and am accountable only to her, and not to the Filipino people and the Constitution be discarded and laid to rest," she said.
Several employees of the Office of the Ombudsman filled the conference room as Gutierrez announced her resignation.
They showed their support to Gutierrez right before she read out her prepared speech by shouting, "We love you, ma'am!"
Some employees shed tears, including a female employee who said while trying to hold back her tears, "Ayan na, ayan na. Hindi ko na kaya. Naiiyak na ko (There, I can't take this anymore. I'm about to cry)."
She said the Aquino administration has been negatively affected by the long impeachment proceedings against her that began at the House of Representatives in September last year and ended in this year.
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The House of Representatives approved on March 22 the articles of impeachment to bring Gutierrez to trial at the Senate for her alleged betrayal of public trust.
In a 212-46 vote with four abstentions, the lawmakers impeached Gutierrez for alleged betrayal of public trust due to the low conviction rates during her term and her supposed inaction on five high-profile cases.
"The impeachment proceedings have consumed not only the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, but the Chief Executive of the land as well," Gutierrez noted.
"At a time when the present administration is in its infancy and beset with more urgent problems, the last thing that the nation needs is for the House and the Senate to be embroiled in a long drawn-out impeachment proceeding against a single public official," Gutierrez said.
"The President needs an Ombudsman in whom he has complete trust and confidence. To carry on my battle to cleanse my name before the Senate would detract from the time which could otherwise be devoted to legislative work which would address the needs of millions of Filipino people," she said.
"By tendering my resignation effective May 6, 2011, I hope we can now all focus on the impelling problems of our people rather than expending so much time, effort and resources to remove me from public office," she added.
Regretful but grateful
"I shall leave this Office with regret at not completing my term, but with gratitude for the privilege of serving as Ombudsman for the past five years," Gutierrez said.
"In almost four decades of devoting my life to government service, I have always been guided by the precepts that the public and moral responsibilities of public officials transcend all other considerations," Gutierrez added.
"It is in accordance with these principles that I have strived and persevered to build and maintain an unblemished record in public service. For me, this is the greatest and lasting legacy that I can leave my family, my children and my children’s children," Gutierrez said as she turned emotional, her voice already breaking and she was almost teary-eyed.
One of the articles of impeachment against the Ombudsman cited her alleged failure to take immediate action on complaints filed against various officials including Arroyo.
Senate impeachment trialStatement of Ombudsman Gutierrez
Good Afternoon. This morning at 10:30 a.m. I personally went to Malacanang to meet with our President, His Excellency Benigno Aquino III, to tender my resignation.
I thank the President for graciously accommodating me on very short notice, and for all the kind words he said to me.
In almost four decades of devoting my life to government service, I have always been guided by the precepts that the public and moral responsibilities of public officials transcend all other considerations. It is in accordance with these principles that I have strived and persevered to build and maintain an unblemished record in public service.
For me, this is the greatest and lasting legacy that I can leave my family, my children and my children’s children. Since September of last year, I have been subjected to impeachment proceedings which seek my removal as the Ombudsman. I have been charged with allegedly betraying the public trust which was vested in me when I assumed office in December of 2005 – this because I allegedly slept and failed to act promptly on cases of national concern.
Because of my strong belief in the falsity of the charges leveled against me, I was firm and resolute that I shall participate in the impeachment trial before the Senate and prove to the Filipino people that the allegations against me are untrue, as they are groundless. I felt that I owed it to the people and the Office of the Ombudsman to vindicate and protect the integrity and independence of the institution. Read more
She said she wanted the Senate impeachment trial against her to proceed so that she could prove that the allegations against her were untrue.
"Because of my strong belief in the falsity of the charges leveled against me, I was firm and resolute that I shall participate in the impeachment trial before the Senate and prove to the Filipino people that the allegations against me are untrue, as they are groundless," she said.
"I felt that I owed it to the people and the Office of the Ombudsman to vindicate and protect the integrity and independence of the institution," she added.
She said she believed she would have the chance to vindicate herself before the Senate.
"I also believed that in the Senate, I shall receive a verdict that would come only after the presentation of credible witnesses and evidence, unswayed by any kind of pressure, whether open or subtle, in proceedings that are devoid of histrionics that might detract from its basic aim to ferret out the truth and decreed by the cold neutrality of Senator-jurors," Gutierrez said.
However, she said she felt that her detractors would continue to hurl accusations at her as it had since September last year when the impeachment trial against her at the House of Representatives began.
"I wanted to face my accusers whatever the personal agony it would have involved. But the interests of my family, my Office, and more importantly the nation, must always come before any personal considerations," Gutierrez said.
"I have not shirked in the face of pressure, have never been cowed into submission, have never been influenced other than by truth and justice. To leave before the end of my term in December 2012 is abhorrent to me," she said.
"But as a government official, I must place first and foremost the interests of the Nation, the interest of my Office, and as a mother and wife, my family," she added.
No rancor
Gutierrez said she bears no hatred toward her detractors.
"To my detractors, I bear them no rancor because I have learned to make myself believe that we all love our country and our people no matter how our
judgments might differ," she said.
"While our detractors will always find cause to criticize and charge delay in what we do, it is because we deem it better to accord due process to our own public officials whose lives we affect when we decide on their cases," she said.
Earlier on Friday, in a text message to GMA News Online, Senator Francis Pangilinan on Friday said Gutierrez's resignation has effectively made her impeachment case before Congress moot and academic.
"A resigned official can no longer be removed by impeachment. Her resignation however does not prevent the state from pursuing criminal cases should there be sufficient grounds to do so," he said.
Click image for a larger view of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez's resignation letter. GMANews.TVPangilinan had asked Gutierrez to resign even before the impeachment proceedings reach the Senate because the trial will only bring the legislative process to a “standstill."
Lawyer Harry Roque, in a statement on the resignation of Gutierrez, said, "As the first to call for impeachment of Gutierrez, I am happy she spared the nation from the spectacle and expense of a trial."
"I hope the President will appoint an Ombudsman who will make the office relevant in upholding public accounatibility. I hope the new Ombudsman will also heed the Alston Report and embrace the challenge for the Ombudsman to also deal with human rights violations," Roque said.
Two weeks ago
Lawyer Tomas Syquia, Gutierrez's impeachment spokesman, said the Ombudsman's resignation will only be effective on May 6 "to give her time to wind down her affairs and deal with some pending issues. ANd one week is just enough time."
Syquia faced reporters after Gutierrez, after reading her prepared statement immediately stood up from her seat and left the room, refusing to accommodate questions from the media.
Gutierrez's lawyer also clarified that reports that several officials from the Office of the Ombudsman were planing to testify against her did not pressure her to resign. "That was not even taken into consideration."
In fact, the lawyer added, Gutierrez was already contemplating on resigning as early as two weeks ago. Gutierrez spent one week "to pray over it" and another week to consult her family, he said.
Syquia said there was "no personal pressure" coming from any sector or individual for her to resign, adding that she only considered "personal anguish, her family, and the national interest."
Asked if Gutierrez's resignation could prompt several of her subordinated to follow her suit and vacate their posts, Syquia said: "I have not heard of any mass resignation."
Syquia said Gutierrez and Aquino did not talk much when the two met in the Palace. "She just tendered her resignation." Syquia said Budget Secretary Florencio "Butch" Abad witnessed the meeting.
Articles of impeachment
Gutierrez, who was scheduled to retire in December 2012, was accused of the following articles of impeachment:
(1) the Office of the Ombudsman has performed dismally as shown by the low conviction rate during her term;
(2) the unreasonable failure to take prompt and immediate action on complaints filed against various public officials, including Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo regarding the controversial NBN-ZTE broadband project;
(3) the inexcusable delay of the Ombudsman in conducting and concluding its investigation into the wrongful death of Ensign Philip Andrew Pestaño aboard a Philippine navy vessel;
(4) inaction on the Fertilizer Fund Scam;
(5) inaction on the Mega Pacific deal on the purchase of voting machines; and
(6) inaction on the “Euro Generals" issue. - with Mark Merueñas, Kim Tan, RSJ
