A senior Philippine anti-corruption official accused of 'serious and inexcusable negligence' in handling the complaint which sparked Manila hostage taker Rolando Mendoza's gun rampage on a bus full of Hong Kong tourists last year has been sacked.
Deputy ombudsman Emilio Gonzalez (pictured) was first told to go in April but his boss, ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, insisted President Benigno Aquino did not have the power to sack him. Gutierrez resigned soon after amid allegations that she protected former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her family from prosecution for corruption.
Gutierrez had also come under fire for her botched handling of the hostage crisis on August 23, in which seven Hong Kong tourists and a tour guide were killed by disgruntled former police officer Mendoza.
Gutierrez resigned on May 6 just as she was to face a congressional impeachment trial over charges that she sat on graft cases involving officials of the previous administration.
A probe into the hostage-taking also recommended impeachment for her controversial role in it.
Gutierrez's temporary replacement, acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro, sent Gonzalez an order on Thursday to 'cease and desist from performing his official and administrative functions'. A copy was forwarded to the Presidential Palace the next day.