CA voids suspension order vs Neri over ZTE mess

The Court of Appeals has nullified the suspension order slapped by the Office of the Ombudsman on Social Security System (SSS) president and chief executive officer Romulo Neri for being premature. In a 20-page decision penned by Associate Justice Pampio Abarintos, the CA’s Tenth Division said the Ombudsman erred when it issued the suspension order without deciding first on the motion for reconsideration filed by Neri. “The pendency of a motion for reconsideration... stays the execution of the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman as its joint decision has not yet attained finality," the court ruled. The court directed the Ombudsman to resolve Neri’s motion for reconsideration first. The CA was referring to the Ombudsman's decision last April 21, 2009 holding Neri administratively liable for misconduct and suspending him for six months without pay in connection with his purported role in the alleged bribery surrounding the $329-million national broadband deal the government entered with China’s Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment (ZTE) Corp. in April 2007. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo scrapped the deal after reports on the bribery surfaced. The NBN project aimed to connect every government office to each other, thus reducing the cost of communication and reducing the need for travel. The Ombudsman suspended Neri for his alleged involvement in the ZTE controversy. Neri, who was director general of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) in 2007, filed a petition asking the CA to stop the Ombudsman from implementing its September 25, 2009 order suspending him for six months without pay. In his petition, Neri said there is no evidence that he violated any rule to support the presumption that he was involved in the ZTE controversy. The complaint before the Ombudsman was filed by the group of UP Prof. Harry Roque. Neri was among the government officials whom the Senate blue ribbon committee, which investigated the ZTE scandal, recommended to be slapped with graft charges. - GMANews.TV