The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the order of the Ombudsman dismissing 14 officials and personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) who were involved chopper deal worth over P 100 million.
The high tribunal upheld the Ombudsman's ruling against Police Directors Leocadio Santiago Jr. and George Piano, Police Senior Superintendents Job Nolan Antonio, Edgar Paatan, Mansue Lukban and Claudio Gaspar Jr., Police Chief Superintendents Herold Ubalde and Luis Saligumba, Police Superintendents Ermilando Villafuerte and Roman Loreto, four other cops and a non-uniformed personnel.
The SC affirmed that the police officers committed serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the service when they approved the purchase of two helicopters in 2009.
The choppers were described as brand-new even if these were actually pre-owned by Former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo.
The SC issued a resolution in response to the appeal filed by the Ombudsman questioning the acquittal of Piano by the Court of Appeals (CA).
SC said the CA made a wrong decision in getting Piano off the hook when he was the one who had affixed his signature to the document claiming that the choppers were supposedly brand new.
The Ombudsman received the SC's ruling on January 15, 2018.