Why Merci's resignation is void

Alan F. Paguia
Former Professor of Law
Ateneo Law School
University of Batangas
Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
alanpaguia@yahoo.com
April 29, 2011

Merceditas Gutierrez, who claims to be Ombudsman, has tendered her resignation to President Noynoy Aquino.

Is her resignation valid?

No. It is, like her aborted impeachment, VOID ab initio.

1. She cannot relinquish an office she no longer holds. Her term had expired in 2009.
2. Her resignation, like her impeachment, is a cover-up for about thousands of ILLEGAL indictments and acquittals she had signed WITHOUT JURISDICTION after the automatic expiration of her inherited constitutional term. 

In other words, in spite of her dubious resignation, she still has to account for such acts of bad faith, not only to the sovereign Filipino people but also to the individual victims of her sham indictments and acquittals.

Those who were illegally indicted would do well to move to dismiss their cases. Those who were illegally acquitted should be re-investigated for possible indictment. The common ground for such courses of action would be lack of jurisdiction on the part of Gutierrez.