MANILA, Philippines (PNA) - The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on Tuesday welcomed the ruling of the Supreme Court (SC) allowing the Justice Committee of the House of Representatives to proceed with the impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

The OSG is an attached agency of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

"We salute and thank the Supreme Court for upholding the separation of powers of the co-equal branches of government," Solicitor General Jose Anselmo "Joel" Cadiz said.

The OSG and the Office of the Ombudsman have not been looking "eye-to-eye" since the Ombudsman entered into a plea bargaining agreement (PBA) with former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) comptroller retired Maj. Gen. Carlos F. Garcia.

Under the PBA, Garcia admitted to a lesser offense of from plunder to bribery and money-laundering that enabled him to post a bail of P60,000 for his temporary freedom on Dec. 16, 2010.

The OSG maintained that the Ombudsman should have consulted the aggrieved party first and that is the AFP whose funds were allegedly misappropriated by some erring officials.