The Court of Appeals has upheld the findings of the Office of the Ombudsman that former Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Siegfred Mison was administratively liable for unlawfully reassigning an intelligence officer in 2015 without an approval from the Justice Secretary.
In a 15-page decision, the CA’s Third Division through Associate Justice Pedro Corales partially granted Mison’s petition for review as it affirmed with modification the January 16, 2017 joint order of the Office of the Ombudsman.
The appellate court instead found Mison “guilty of simple misconduct and meted the penalty of three months suspension with the stern warning that a repetition of the same or similar acts will warrant a more severe penalty.”
“ In the event that the penalty of suspension can no longer be enforced, a fine equivalent to three (3) – month salary shall be imposed, payable to the [Ombudsman], and may be deductible from his accrued leave credits or any receivable from his office,” the appellate court ruled.
According to the appellate court, Mison’s petition was partly meritorious and that he is liable only for simple misconduct