The Sandiganbayan has ordered the 90-day preventive suspension of Mayor Generoso Naraiso of Tagbina, Surigao del Sur and Councilor Nolly Concepcion of San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan pending their graft and usurpation charges at the anti-graft court.
The anti-graft court, in separate resolutions, said the suspension order was intended to prevent the accused from intimidating potential witnesses in their respective cases.
“The court trying a case has neither discretion nor duty to determine whether or not a preventive suspension is required to prevent the accused from using his office to intimidate witnesses or frustrate his prosecution or continue committing malfeasance in office,” the Sandiganbayan said in Naraiso's case.
“The presumption is that unless the accused is suspended, he may frustrate the prosecution of the case, commit further acts of malfeasance, or do both,” the anti-graft court noted in Concepcion’s case.
The Ombudsman accused Naraiso of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act owing to his alleged unlawful withholding of the municipal accountant’s representation and transportation allowance for five months in 2015 despite orders from the Civil Service Commission.
Concepcion, on the other hand, was accused of usurpation of authority when he unlawfully assumed the functions of the vice mayor from September to October 2009.
Concepcion allegedly failed to relinquish the post despite a directive from the Department of the Interior and Local Government for him to perform the functions and responsibilities of a councilor.