Stand up with Ombudsman on Carandang's non-suspension - De Lima

Sen. Leila M. de Lima has urged the public to stand up with Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and her deputies amid government's threat to probe them for alleged partiality and corruption if they will not suspend Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang.

De Lima made the call as she lauded Morales for standing her ground against the Duterte administration's insistence to immediately suspend Carandang for allegedly releasing the multi-billion peso bank records of the President and his family.

"I fully support Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales in upholding the independence of her office and that of her deputies from Malacañang," she said in her Dispatch from Crame No. 255.

"Majority of law-abiding citizens are behind [Morales and her deputies] in this latest attempt of the President to exercise absolute power. He will not succeed so long as men and women of integrity stand up to him as champions of democracy and the rule of law," she added.

The Duterte administration has earlier charged Carandang with grave misconduct and grave dishonesty for allegedly releasing multi-billion peso bank records showing the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the President and his family.

Duterte insisted that Carandang should be immediately suspended because he has committed a crime for purportedly releasing "fabricated" bank documents from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

According to news reports, initial bank records from the AMLC showed the deposits and withdrawals from Duterte's children as well as his common-law wife, Honeylet Avanceña, and their daughter, Veronica.

Citing a 2014 SC ruling reversing a 2012 ruling affirming the President's disciplinary powers over the Deputy Ombudsman, Morales however maintained she would not implement the 90-day suspension order issued against Carandang.

Instead, De Lima pointed out that it is the President who should be acting in accordance with the Constitution and the law - and not the other way around.

"The Ombudsman and the Supreme Court should not be the ones adjusting to Malacañang," she said.

"Of course, that is asking too much of this government," she added.

De Lima called on Morales and her deputies to "not waver in this fight for your independence and constitutional mandate" amid efforts by the present administration to undermine the independence of the Ombudsman.