Candaba mayor suspended over Malampaya raps

MANILA, Philippines —  The Sandiganbayan has ordered the suspension of mayor Rene Maglanque of Candaba town in Pampanga for 90 days, amid the trial for 194 cases related to the P900-million Malampaya fund scam.

The court said the suspension is to prevent Maglanque from using his government position “to hamper prosecution or to commit further malfeasance in office.”

Although the cases were filed in 2017 yet, the court’s Special Third Division said Section 13 of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, states that preventive suspension applies to any office an accused is currently holding and not necessarily to the particular office or position he was holding at the time he was charged.

The court noted that Maglanque won as mayor in the May 2025 polls.

Maglanque is among the public officials and private individuals named in 97 cases of violation of RA 3019 and another 97 cases of malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents.

He and the other accused, which include former officials of the Department of Budget and Management and the Department of Agriculture, were earlier allowed to post bail.

Filed by the Ombudsman in 2017, the cases stemmed from the alleged misuse of P900 million worth of government income from the Malampaya natural gas project. The amount was intended for farmers affected by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng in late 2009.

The Third Division had earlier dismissed the cases against the primary accused, former Camarines Sur representative Rolando Andaya Jr., following his death in June 2022.

The court, however, ruled to proceed with the trial of the cases against the other accused, including detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, who is tagged as the brains of the equally controversial pork barrel fund scam.

Based on the charge sheets, Andaya as then Budget secretary, conspired with the other government officials in funneling P900 million to bogus non-government organizations owned by Napoles.

The ombudsman said the allocation to the Napoles-linked NGOs was for supposed livelihood projects, which turned out to be “ghosts” or were never implemented.

In ordering Maglanque’s preventive suspension, the Special Third Division said Section 13 of RA 3019 further provides that an accused currently holding a public position “shall be suspended from office” if he is charged under a valid case information of any crime under RA 3019 or under Book II of the Revised Penal Code or for any offense involving public funds or property or fraud against the government.

“Stated differently, once the information is found to be sufficient in form and substance, the court must consequently issue the order of suspension. There are no ifs and buts about it,” the court said. “Taking into consideration the public policy involved in preventively suspending a public officer charged under a valid information, the protection of public interest will definitely have to prevail over the private interest of the accused.”

The court directed the Department of Interior and Local Government to implement the suspension order.