Coast Guard chief defies Sandigan

MANILA, Philippines—Despite a Sandiganbayan ruling ordering the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to impose a 90-day preventive suspension on Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Vice Admiral Edmund Tan in connection with a pending graft case, the PCG head is still reporting for work at the agency headquarters in Port Area, Manila.

Tan’s temporary replacement has yet to be named by the DOTC, of which the Coast Guard is an attached agency.

It was Tan who welcomed last Monday visiting United States Coast Guard personnel who are participating in a joint maritime law enforcement development course being conducted by the US Export Control and Border Security Office.

The Philippines is among at least 90 countries worldwide supporting the US-led endorsement of the Proliferation Security Initiative campaign, which calls for effective measures against the development and sale of weapons of mass destruction.

In an October 8 ruling, the Sandiganbayan’s 4th Division denied Tan’s motion for reconsideration seeking the recall of the suspension order.

Mandatory

It said that under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, the suspension of an accused public official is mandatory and not discretionary upon the court once it has determined the charges are valid.

In denying Tan’s motion for reconsideration, the court said he merely offered a rehash of arguments that had already been passed upon and squarely rejected by the court in its earlier resolutions.

Tan, appointed as PCG chief by President Benigno Aquino III on January 24, has repeatedly denied the accusations of wrongdoing.

The graft case stemmed from a complaint filed by businessman Reynaldo Chua Jr. who accused Tan of causing him undue injury by detaining his shipment of iron ore in 2007, which resulted in his having to pay docking penalties amounting to P500,000.

Tan, who was at the time chief of the PCG Visayas Area Command, had detained the ship LCT Kapitan, which was transporting Chua’s iron ore cargo on the basis of an injunction order supposedly issued by a court in Iligan City.

He also allegedly raised questions about the ship’s equipment and environmental clearances.

The Ombudsman said that Tan had “committed the offense in relation to duty and taking advantage thereof, through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence, did then and there willfully and unlawfully caused undue injury to Chua” by presenting a fictitious temporary restraining order issued against the iron ore cargo.—Jerry E. Esplanada