On the Resignation of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez

With less than two weeks before the start of her Senate Trial, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez suddenly resigned on Friday, 29 April 2011 after she had been impeached by the House of Representatives on six counts of BETRAYAL OF THE PUBLIC TRUST.

In her letter of resignation presented personally to President Benigno Aquino III, the resigned Ombudsman said (among several even more self-serving things) “the President needs an Ombudsman in whom he has complete trust and confidence.”

Without a doubt, the President never had any reason to trust or have confidence in Ombudsman Gutierrez, a holdover from the previous administration seemingly installed to undertake a rear guard holding action against any significant investigation into graft and corruption under Gloria Arroyo.  This objective lack of trust and confidence in her  ought to have been enough for her to tender her courtesy resignation out of delicadeza on Day One of the Aquino administration. 

Indeed, when the House of Representatives began to consider impeaching the Ombudsman last September, she was able to quickly get an astounding "Status Quo Ante Order" from the Supreme Court (which as everybody knows is populated by 14 out of 15 Justices appointed by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo). 

But the House stood its ground and finally did impeach her in plenary after months of exhaustive investigation by the House Justice Committee led by Reps. Niel Tupas and Rudy Farinas who I hope will carry out a threatened  impeachment of the Supreme Court Justices for "betrayal of public trust" in the manner that they issued above mentioned SQA Order. 

CONGRESS is coming back, albeit slowly, from the debacle handed to it by GMA, Hilario Davide, Angelo Reyes and the Supreme Court during Edsa2001!  

The IMPEACHMENT POWER will again be the SOLE and EXCLUSIVE power of the Congress of our people! Beware ye now UNELECTED JUDGES!