Aquino ally seeks lifting of 90-day suspension

Suspended Oriental Mindoro Rep. Paulino Salvador Leachon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Suspended Oriental Mindoro Rep. Paulino Salvador Leachon, a member of President Aquino’s Liberal Party, has asked the Sandiganbayan to rescind the 90-day preventive suspension it issued against him in connection with a graft case filed by murdered community journalist Nilo Baculo.

In a seven-page motion for reconsideration, Leachon said the reasons for suspending an erring public official from office, as spelled out in Republic Act No. 3019, known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, were not present in his case.

He also argued that prosecutors from the Office of the Ombudsman had “failed to establish a case” against him even after completing their presentation of evidence.

“(W)ith all due respect, the (suspension order) has no more purpose and basis, both in fact and in law,” read a portion of Leachon’s motion dated April 20.

Citing the law, the congressman said the reason for suspending a government official facing criminal charges was to “prevent the accused from hampering the normal course of the investigation with his influence and authority.”

“These concerns are absolutely not present anymore in the case against the accused, considering the fact that the prosecution had already finished presenting its evidence,” he said.

Despite his suspension, he insisted that he “did not commit any offense or any act of malfeasance.”

“In any case, the prosecution has already presented its evidence and has failed to even establish a case against (me),” he said.

Baculo, a crusading journalist who was shot dead in Calapan City last year, filed charges against several police and local government officials in Oriental Mindoro.

He filed the graft complaint in the Ombudsman against Leachon when the lawmaker was still the mayor of Calapan.

The case stemmed from the alleged illegal use of dump trucks owned by the city government to deliver sand to a property owned by a private individual.

In its March 31 resolution, the antigraft court’s Fourth Division suspended Leachon as a lawmaker. Marlon Ramos