Sandiganbayan suspends Occidental Mindoro mayor for 90 days

The Sandiganbayan imposed a 90-day preventive suspension order against San Jose, Occidental Mindoro Mayor Romulo Festin, who was in the news recently over the Recto Bank ramming of a Filipino fishing boat by a Chinese vessel, while the trial for his graft charges proceeded.

In a resolution dated May 22, the Third Division said that Festin's suspension covered his duties as mayor and other public positions he currently holds.

The Sandiganbayan, nonetheless, qualified that the suspension was not a result of judicial proceedings. Festin's withheld salaries and benefits during the suspension would be reinstated if he was acquitted in the case.

Festin faced three counts of graft for allegedly awarding the computerization contract of his town’s Real Property Tax Assessment system to JABL Information Solutions in July 2008, without the required public bidding.

The contract was valued at P4.5 million.

In September 2008, Festin also failed to hold a public bidding for the purchase of four multi-cabs worth P850,000 from Micro Enterprise.

He then supposedly released the salaries of three private consultants, worth a total of P90,000, without proof of their rendered services in October and December 2009.

Festin had argued that the basis of the cases were purely for "political reasons and mere political harassment." These were being used by his opponents to damage his re-election bid in the May 2019 elections, which he nevertheless won.

However, the Sandiganbayan said Section 7 of the anti-graft law mandated the preventive suspension of an incumbent government official as soon as the charges were deemed valid.

"Once the information is found to be sufficient in form and substance, then the court must issue the order of suspension as a matter of course. There are no ifs or buts about it. This is because a preventive suspension is not a penalty," the Sandiganbayan said.

"Taking into consideration the public policy involved in preventively suspending a public officer charged under a valid information, the protection of public interest will definitely have to prevail over the private interest of the accused," it added.

San Jose, Occidental Mindoro is the hometown ofthe 22 Filipino fishermen, whose vessel, F/B Gem-Vir I was rammed by a Chinese boat.

Festin had criticized China over the collision and had called for an investigation of the incident. — Joseph Tristan Roxas/DVM, GMA News