Sandiganbayan defers PCG chief's preventive suspension

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan has suspended the implementation of a 90-day preventive suspension on Philippine Coast Guard commandant Vice Admiral Edmund Tan, who is facing trial for graft, pending the resolution of his motion for reconsideration.

The graft case against Tan, a former head of the PCG Eastern Visayas Command, was filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in December 2010.

The charges rose from a complaint filed by businessman Reynaldo Chua in 2007, who claimed Tan ordered his iron shipment detained. The shipment was later released after the Department on Environment and Natural Resources confirmed its grant of a transport permit.

The Sandiganbayan, granting a motion by government prosecutors, issued a preventive suspension order against Tan earlier this month.