Suspension order vs Gica still a go despite poll ban

CEBU, Philippines — The 90-day preventive suspension imposed on Dumanjug, Cebu Mayor Efren Guntrano Gica will push through despite the election ban.

Lawyer Jerome Brillantes, acting Cebu provincial election supervisor, said the implementing office can still serve suspensions for incumbent officials amid the ban for the May 13 elections, but only for specific cases involving graft and corruption charges.

“The suspension (of elective local officials) is also suspended or prohibited during the election period but if the case involves graft and corruption then the ban will not apply,” he said in a text message to The FREEMAN.

Suspension of local officials is one of the prohibitions enforced during the election period, which runs from January 13 to June 12, 2019, as stipulated in the Commission on Elections Resolution Number 10429.

But recently, Sandiganbayan ordered the 90-day preventive suspension of Gica in connection with his pending criminal cases for allegedly padding up the amount of meal expenses for a barangay assembly event in 2014 when he was the vice-mayor.

The Sandiganbayan's Fourth Division, in an April 3 resolution, ruled that Gica's suspension is mandatory to conform to a certain provision of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Section 13 of the law provides that an incumbent public official should be suspended from office if he is charged with valid case information of a crime under RA 3019 or under the Revised Penal Code or for any offense involving public funds or property or fraud against government.

To recall, Gica was charged with one count each of graft and malversation of public funds and three counts of falsification of public documents.

The Fourth Division stated that Gica was already arraigned last January 23 and so the information of the cases is already deemed as “valid.”

The anti-graft court also noted that Gica failed to respond for a comment or an opposition on his impending suspension despite being given a leeway of 10 days after the arraignment.

The Sandiganbayan then directed the Department of the Interior and Local Government to implement immediately the suspension order.

In a separate interview, DILG-Cebu Provincial Director Jerome Gonzales said yesterday that his office has yet to receive a copy of the order from Sandiganbayan.

At the Dumanjug Municipal Hall, Gica continues to perform his tasks and duties.

An employee at the mayor’s office said over a phone interview that they have not heard about the suspension order against Gica. — KBQ (FREEMAN)