The Sandiganbayan ordered the 90-day suspension pendente lite of mayor Generoso Naraiso of Tagbina, Surigao del Sur.
Naraiso is facing trial for violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019) on his unlawful withholding of the release and payment of the Representation and Transportation Allowance of the municipal accountant from March 2015 to July 2015 despite directive from the Civil Service Commission.
In the Sandiganbayan Resolution, the court reiterated the ministerial duty under Section 13 of R.A. No. 3019 that “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 presumption is that unless the accused is suspended, he may frustrate his prosecution or commit further acts of malfeasance or do both.”
Section 13 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019) makes it mandatory for the court to suspend any incumbent public officer or employee against whom any criminal prosecution under a valid information under the Act or under Title 7, Book II of the Revised Penal Code, or for any offense involving fraud upon government or public funds or property, whether as a simple or as a complex offense, and in whatever stage of execution and mode of participation, is pending in court. ###