ShareThisEx-President cited in botched NBN-ZTE deal
QUEZON CITY (via PhilAmPress) — In a surprise move, the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division on Tuesday ordered former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to be suspended from office pendite lite (preventive suspension) and cease and desist from performing and/or exercising the functions and duties of a representative.
The four-page decision signed by Associate Justices Gregory Ong, Jose Hernandez and Maria Cristina Cornejo also ruled that the solon’s salary, benefits and privileges as public official including those other public office or position she may now be holding is suspended for the period of 90 days effective upon notice hereof.
“The honorable Speaker of the House of Representatives shall enforce this suspension order. He, or his duly authorized representative shall apprise this court in writing within five days from notice of action taken to enforce the resolution, including actual date when the accused public officer commenced to serve her suspension and the expiration of the 90-day period suspension at which time such suspension shall be deemed automatically lifted and set aside,” the resolution read.
The order was in connection with the failed US$ 329 million NBN ZTE deal which then President Arroyo entered into.
Mrs. Arroyo, who is serving her second term as congresswoman of Pampanga, has been placed under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City for several years now in connection with various charges filed against her.
The graft court’s decision to suspend Mrs. Arroyo has caught many by surprise.
Observers said the decision was made so it could be included in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the President in July.
Others said it was made so that the suspension of Senators Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jose Estrada, who are both facing plunder charges and are detained at the PNP custodial center in Camp Crame, could also be suspended next.
In their four-page ruling, the anti-graft court associate justices ordered Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. to serve the 90-day suspension order against former President Arroyo.
In their decision, the justices cited Section 13 of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. The said section states that, “Any public officer against whom any criminal prosecution under a valid information under this Act or under the provisions of the Revised Penal Code on bribery is pending in court, shall be suspended from office.”
In December 2011, the Ombudsman’s office filed graft charges against the former President for approving the government’s $329-million national broadband network project with China’s Zhong Xing Telecommunications Corporation despite being aware of its supposed irregularities.
Arroyo’s lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, on Tuesday told reporters they would likely appeal the suspension but they were still waiting for a copy of the ruling from the Sandiganbayan.
Belmonte, who is currently out of the country, said Arroyo’s suspension had “no practical effect.”
“As to legal effect, I have to consult my colleagues,” the Speaker added.