MAP denies backing on dismissed MIAA chief

Management Association of the Philippines president, Atty. Benedicta Du-Baladad denied that her group aired its support to the dismissed Manila International Airport Authority, General Manager Cesar Chiong, and MIAA OIC assistant general manager Irene Montalbo, saying that the backing came from some of its members.

Besides MAP, the Makati Business Club last week released a statement of support backing Chiong and Montalbo, questioning the decision of Ombudsman Samuel Martires.

"Please note that this is not a MAP statement. Nowhere should the statement be attributed to MAP. This is a statement of individual businessmen and professionals who requested us to distribute it to the media," Baladad told the Daily Tribune.

Trabaho Partylist on Wednesday also hit business groups petition urging Ombudsman Martires to reverse the decision dismissing Chiong, stating that it is a clear interference with the independence and investigatory functions of the Ombudsman.

"While the 1987 Constitution created the Ombudsman as 'an independent constitutional body, unfettered by political influence and insulated it from the ebb and tide of political fortunes,' here comes now a group of businessmen trying to erode the integrity of the office," Trabaho Partylist Secretary General Atty. Juan Paolo Lorica said.

"The decision dismissing Chiong and MIAA OIC assistant general manager Irene Montalbo is clearly supported by evidence. It is unfair for the business sector to even insinuate that the Ombudsman and the panel of investigators did not investigate and decide the case with utmost objectivity," he added.

Lorica pointed out that Martires' record as Ombudsman has consistently shown he has maintained his independence and that he does not look into the political color of the respondents of the cases being decided by his office.

"It must be recalled that Ombudsman Martires caused the withdrawal of the usurpation case that his predecessor has filed against President Noynoy Aquino. And just recently he dismissed from the service the Over-All Deputy Ombudsman for his involvement in the Pharmally case. The Ombudsman exacted justice for the Filipino people even as other government organs failed to do the same," he said.

The Trabaho Partylist Secretary General further stressed that what the business groups are asking is for the Ombudsman to favor Chiong.

"Is Chiong the only citizen who can manage the airport efficiently and effectively? Is he the only citizen who is honest for which this government must lean on?" he asked.

Last April 2023, Chiong and Montalbo were put on preventive suspension by the Ombudsman for Grave Abuse of Authority, Grave Misconduct, and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service for reassigning 285 MIIA personnel despite the two officials' temporary positions in the attached agency of the Department of Transportation.