Antigraft court suspends Cebu town mayor

CEBU CITY, Philippines - Rogelio Baquerfo Sr., who insists he is still mayor of Tudela town even after he has been eased out of the Municipal Hall by Demetrio Granada, has received another blow, this time from the anti-graft court. The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division, in a resolution dated July 11, 2008, ordered Baquerfo’s preventive suspension for 90 days while his graft case involving the turnover of a waterworks system to Barangay Puertobello is being heard. This would further complicate the political situation in Tudela since the rule on succession would pave the way for the assumption as acting mayor of Vice Mayor Clint Maratas once the order is implemented. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), which has been tasked to implement the suspension order, still recognizes Baquerfo as mayor and not Granada, whom the court declared months ago as winner in a recount of votes in the 2007 election. But Granada does not consider the order to suspend Baquerfo as a complication, saying it is already moot and academic as he has already assumed as mayor of Tudela. Motion Noel Archival, lead counsel for Baquerfo, also does not see Maratas assuming as acting mayor because, he said, the Sandiganbayan order is not immediately executory. He said they will file a motion for reconsideration and if this is denied will raise the matter with the Supreme Court, then ask for a temporary restraining order. The Sandiganbayan resolution, signed by Fifth Division chairperson Ma. Cristina Cortez-Estrada and associate justices Napoleon Inoturan and Roland Jurado, granted the prosecution’s “motion to suspend accused pendente lite" filed on March 25, 2008. It considered as without merit the contention of Baquerfo, through his legal counsel, that a hearing should first be heard prior to a suspension. The Division, in an order dated April 4, 2008, gave Baquerfo’s counsel 15 days from its receipt to file a comment to the motion of the prosecution. “The intention of the order," the resolution noted, “was to dispense with a trial-type hearing…Clearly, the accused was not deprived of the opportunity to be heard." It cited section 13 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019) that when a public officer is facing a criminal case pending in court involving “fraud upon government funds or property" he may be suspended from office. The case stemmed from the decision in 2004 by Baquerfo, who was then the Tudela mayor, to turn over the Puertobello waterworks system for the exclusive use of the said barangay “without support or approval" from the Municipal Council. The water system in Puertobello is part of the municipality’s waterworks system. In yesterday’s hearing, Granada, who introduced himself as “80 years old, a widower, and the mayor of Tudela," appeared as a witness. Granada narrated that when he assumed the post of mayor in July 2004 after defeating Baquerfo, he sent a letter of inquiry to then Puertobello barangay captain Gerry Cañete about the waterworks system. He showed the court Cañete’s response letter, which said that he was still too busy to accept the mayor’s invitation to a meeting. When Granada sent a reply letter and waited in vain for a response, he went to court. The hearing will resume today, with the defense to cross-examining Granada. Takeover The Commission on Elections (Comelec) declared Baquerfo winner by a slim margin over Granada in the 2007 elections. Granada filed an electoral protest and a recount before Danao City Regional Trial Court Judge Edito Enemecio had Granada winning by a margin of 13 votes. Enemecio issued a writ of execution on Jan. 9 this year but Baquerfo went to the Comelec en banc, which issued a 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO). Granada took over the post last month after the lapse of the TRO using the court’s writ of execution as his argument but DILG insists Baquerfo is the legitimate town mayor. – Sun.Star Cebu