Sandiganbayan orders Villafuerte’s suspension

The Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division has ordered the 90-day preventive suspension of Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. in connection with his graft case.

In a resolution dated Jan. 30, the antigraft court said that under Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, any incumbent public official charged with graft should be suspended from office.

Villafuerte, who is seeking reelection in the May midterm polls, has voluntarily submitted to preventive suspension.

In a Feb. 11 letter to Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a copy of which was furnished to the Sandiganbayan, Villafuerte said that his move was not in any way an admission of guilt.

No admission of guilt

“While I firmly believe that only the House of Representatives has the authority to discipline its members, I … am nonetheless voluntarily submitting [myself] to the preventive suspension,” he said.

The suspension will be in effect from Feb. 11 to May 12.

Villafuerte faces graft charges in connection with Camarines Sur’s allegedly anomalous purchase of oil products during his term as governor. —PATRICIA DENISE M. CHIU