Samar governor, 4 others suspended over graft charges

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan handed down a 90-day suspension order against Samar Governor Milagrosa Tee Tan and four other provincial officials over eight counts of graft charges filed against them by the Ombudsman. In a resolution dated July 11, the Sandiganbayan's Fourth Division directed the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to immediately implement Tan's 90-day suspension, while Samar Vice Governor Jesus Rejada was directed to enforce the suspension of the four other officials. Aside from Tan, those facing suspension are: • Provincial administrative officer Rolando Montejo, • Provincial treasurer Damiano Conde, • Provincial accountant Romeo Reales, • Provincial budget officer Maximo Sison, and • Provincial property inspection officer Numeriano Legaspi. In the resolution, Puno and Rejada were also told to submit their respective reports to the court once the suspensions orders have been implemented for the court to ascertain the termination of the 90-day suspension period. The suspension of Tan and four Samar provincial officials was ordered on the request of Asst. Special Prosecutor Jacinto dela Cruz Jr who argued that its imposition became mandatory after the graft court affirmed that the informations against the accused are sufficient in form and substance. Tan tried to block the order by saying that the prosecution's motion to suspend was "defective" because it was filed based only on a single case which, she said, was in violation of the consolidation of the eight cases against her and her co-accused. The Samar governor added that allowing the prosecution to seek their suspension would be prejudicial to the interest of her constituents and would violate her right to equal protection of law. The Court overruled her arguments and upheld the prosecution stand that suspension is mandatory in graft cases noting that the purpose for such imposition is to "is to prevent the accused public officer from hampering his prosecution by intimidating or influencing witnesses, tampering with documentary evidence or committing further acts of malfeasance while in office.ʼ" Sandiganbayan stressed that the law does not require that the guilt of the defendant or the strength of evidence against him be established first. The cases against Tan and her co-defendants were filed in 2004 based on a complaint of Fr. Noel Labendia, parish priest of the Diocese of Calbayog and founding leader of Isog Han Samar Movement, an anti-corruption group in the province. Labendia claimed the officials were in cahoots in approving anomalous purchases of P16.1 million worth of supposed "emergency supplies" without any public bidding. Graft investigators noted that the purchases included rice and medical supplies earmarked for victims of typhoon "Kidang" which hit the province in 2001 but some of the requests for supplies turned out to have pre-dated the typhoon. - GMANews.TV