Carandang’s dismissal took several months in the making. The Office of the President first issued an order dated July 30, 2018, finding him liable for graft and corruption and betrayal of public trust.
The order came months after he divulged to the media about the bank probe they were conducting against President Rodrigo Duterte. Carandang said that the Anti-Money Laundering Council shared with them Duterte’s bank transactions. However, the AMLC denied his claims. When the order reached the Office of the Ombudsman, Samuel Martires said then that he has “no choice” but to implement it.
Martires’ predecessor, Conchita Carpio Morales, refused to acknowledge the 90-day suspension ordered by the Office of the Executive Secretary back in January 2018 regarding the same issue. She stressed that it is the Ombudsman, not the President, who can discipline the ODO.