The Supreme Court has voided former president Rodrigo Duterte's 2018 dismissal of overall deputy ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang. The court awarded Carandang backwages and retirement benefits up to the end of his 2020 term. The Third Division ruled on January 29, 2026, that the president lacks disciplinary authority over a deputy ombudsman.
The Supreme Court's Third Division issued a decision on January 29, 2026, penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh, denying the Office of the President's petition against the Court of Appeals' 2021 and 2022 rulings. The SC held that the president has no administrative or disciplinary jurisdiction over a deputy ombudsman, citing the Second Gonzales decision that declared Section 8(2) of Republic Act No. 6770 unconstitutional.
The case stemmed from Carandang's media statements on the probe into Duterte's wealth, originating from former senator Antonio Trillanes IV's May 2016 complaint. The OP found him liable for graft, corruption, and betrayal of public trust in a July 30, 2018 order, implemented by Ombudsman Samuel Martires on June 14, 2019. The SC ruled Carandang's remarks, using terms like 'baka' (maybe) and 'siguro' (possibly), showed neutrality and fit his investigative role.
"The president possesses no administrative or disciplinary authority over a deputy ombudsman," the decision stated. Carandang received salaries for his preventive suspension and dismissal period up to 2020, plus retirement benefits. Justices Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Henri Jean Paul Inting, Samuel Gaerlan, and Japar Dimaampao concurred.
Former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales refused to implement the 2018 suspension, straining ties with Duterte. "I refused to implement the order as the president does not have disciplinary jurisdiction over Deputy Ombudsmen (following the case of Gonzales)," Morales told Rappler.
