The Sandiganbayan has ordered the 90-day preventive suspension of Candaba, Pampanga Mayor Rene Maglanque in connection with graft and malversation charges stemming from the alleged ₱900-million Malampaya fund scam.
In a resolution dated January 19, the anti-graft court’s Special Third Division directed Maglanque to cease performing his duties as municipal mayor during the suspension period.
The Sandiganbayan directed the Department of the Interior and Local Government to immediately implement the suspension order.
Maglanque is a co-accused of former Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. and former Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman in the case.
Prosecutors alleged that funds intended for victims of the 2009 Luzon floods were diverted to non-existent livelihood projects.
The prosecution further claimed that Maglanque received commissions from detained businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles on behalf of Pangandaman.
The court ordered Maglanque’s suspension after prosecutors informed the division that he had been re-elected mayor in the 2025 elections.
Records showed that Maglanque failed to comply with an October 2025 court directive giving him 10 days to explain why he should not be preventively suspended.
