G.R. No. 142261




THIRD DIVISION G.R. No. 142261 April 5, 2000 GOVERNOR MANUEL M. LAPID, petitioner, vs. HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS, OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN, NATIONAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, FACT-FINDING INTELLIGENCE BUREAU (FFIB) of the Officer of the Ombudsman, DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR & LOCAL GOVERNMENT, respondents. R E S O L U T I O N From the pleadings filed by the parties and after oral argument held on April 5, 2000, the petitioner represented by Atty. Augusto G. Panlilio, the respondent Ombudsman represented by its Chief Legal Counsel, and the National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Interior and Local Government represented by the Solicitor-General, and after due deliberation, the Court finds that the respondents failed to establish the existence of a law mandating the immediate execution of a decision of the Ombudsman in an administrative case where the penalty imposed is suspension for one year. The immediate implementation of the decision of the Ombudsman against petitioner is thus premature. WHEREFORE, the respondents are ordered to reinstate effective immediately the petitioner to the position of Governor of the Province of Pampanga. This case is hereby remanded to the Court of Appeals for resolution of the appeal in CA-GR. SP No. 56744 on the merits. Said court is hereby directed to resolve the same with utmost deliberate dispath. This is without prejudice to the promulgation of an extended decision.1âwphi1.nêt SO ORDERED. Melo, Vitug, Panganiban, Purisima and Gonzaga-Reyes, JJ., concur. The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation