‘Padaca can’t invoke immunity from suit’

MANILA, Philippines - Her appointment has not been confirmed by Congress, so Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Grace Padaca cannot invoke immunity from suit as a constitutional official who may only be removed from office through impeachment.

Ombudsman lawyers said that even if Padaca gets the nod of the Commission on Appointments (CA), the charges of graft and malversation of public funds filed against her should still proceed because her removal from office is not being sought.

In a five-page motion filed earlier this week, prosecutors handling her criminal cases asked the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division to junk Padaca’s motion to dismiss.

The former Isabela governor is being charged for granting a P25-million rice program contract to a private firm in 2006 without the conduct of public bidding.

“Without having been confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, accused cannot claim all the privileges and immunities of a regularly appointed commissioner. Pending her confirmation, she has no fixed term of office,” Assistant Special Prosecutor Omar Sagadal and Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer (GIPO) Beda Epres said.

Padaca was appointed Comelec commissioner in October last year, several months after the Office of the Ombudsman indicted her.

President Aquino shouldered her P70,000 bail as a sign of support and expressed his belief that Padaca is innocent of the charges.

Ombudsman lawyers argued that if the cases against the accused are dismissed on the ground of immunity, as she claimed, such would amount to undermining the power of Congress to approve or reject an appointment and render useless the constitutional requirement for confirmation.

They said that even with a re-appointment, Padaca’s trial may still proceed since she “is not being removed from her position, she is only being made to account for crimes committed in another office.”

“It might be wise to continue with the prosecution of the cases and if ever the accused is found guilty, to suspend execution of judgment until such time that the accused is no longer holding an impeachable position,” Sagadal and Epres stressed.

Padaca’s motion to dismiss claims that the penalties that could be imposed if she is found guilty of the charges include possible dismissal from the service, which cannot be done because she can only be unseated by impeachment.