QMMC chief suspended for graft

MANILA, Philippines – The Sandiganbayan has suspended for 90 days the head of the Quirino Memorial Medical Center (QMMC) in Quezon City and three other hospital employees who are on trial for graft.

QMMC chief Angeles de Leon, nurse Luz Padua, nutritionist dietician Milagrina Jacinto and medical technologist Michael Raquel will not receive their salary during the suspension period.

The anti-graft court’s First Division ordered Health Secretary Janette Garin to implement the preventive suspension order imposed on the respondents.

The charges against the respondents stemmed from their alleged role in the illegal procurement of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine worth P44.9 million from Fernando Medical Enterprises Inc. in 2004.

In a ruling penned by Associate Justice Efren de la Cruz, the Sandiganbayan said Section 13 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act provides that the accused public officials shall be suspended from office while facing trial for graft.