Sandiganbayan suspends Zamboanga alderman for 90 days over graft raps

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan has suspended for 90 days a provincial board member in Zamboanga Sibugay who is facing graft and malversation charges in connection with the implementation of a livelihood program.

In an eight-page resolution, the anti-graft court granted the 90-day preventive suspension on Provincial Board Member George Castillo, who was implicated in the alleged anomalies of the implementation of the Aid to the Poor Program.

The tribunal ruled that "(s)uspension under R.A. No. 3019 being a mere preventive suspension whose duration shall in no case exceed 90 days, the adequacy of the opportunity to contest the validity of the information and of the proceedings that preceded its filing vis-à-vis the merits of the defenses of the accused cannot be measured alone by the absence or presence of an actual hearing."

The court belittled Castillo’s argument that the suspension would deprive his constituents of essential representation, ruling that "the fear of the accused that his constituents will be paralyzed for 90 days when he is preventively suspended is remote."

It noted that "there will still remain 10 other Board Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Zamboanga Sibugay who can meet as such."