THE Court of Appeals’ Special 16th Division has stopped the Ombudsman from suspending Felipe Sarmiento, a director of the San Pedro Water District, who had been found liable for a contract awarded to his wife’s firm.
The order against the Ombudsman would be in place until it has resolved a motion to reconsider its findings against Sarmiento.
“If the Office of the Ombudsman cannot execute its own decision if there is an appeal, with more reason it cannot do so while a motion for reconsideration of its decision is pending,” Associate Justice Jose Catral Mendoza said in a resolution.
Sarmiento’s appeal is enough to keep the Ombudsman from executing the suspension order, the appellate court said. “The execution of a decision while a motion for reconsideration is pending is an exercise of grave abuse of discretion,” the court said.
Associate Justices Myrna Dimaranan-Vidal and Marlene Gonzales-Sison agreed with the ruling.
In August 2006, Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Victor Fernandez found Sarmiento administratively culpable for “conniving” with Guillermo Pili Jr., the general manager of SPWD, in awarding a contract in 2003 to paint SPWD pumping stations in Maryland Southview and Southern Heights I Subdivision in San Pedro, Laguna, to EVSLuck Trading, a firm owned by Sarmiento’s wife, Evelyn.
While his wife would stand to benefit from the contract, Sarmiento said he did not participate in the call for bids that was done by the pre-bidding and awards committee. Even before he became a member of the water utility’s board of directors, his wife had been doing business with the water district, Sarmiento said.
For his part, Pili said it was his job to endorse to the board what the committee would recommend and that should be the lowest bid in favor of the agency.
