The Sandiganbayan has suspended for 90 days Zamboanga del Sur Rep. Aurora Enerio-Cerilles as she faces graft over allegedly overpriced medical supplies in 2001 when she was provincial governor.
In a statement by the Office of the Ombudsman which charged Cerilles, the antigraft court suspended the congresswoman as she faces a graft trial for approving the purchase of overpriced medical supplies worth P7 million.
The Sandiganbayan sided with the Ombudsman on the validity of the preventive suspension of a public official facing corruption charges.
Ombudsman prosecutors said according to Section 13 of the Antigraft and Corrupt Practices Act, a public official may be placed under preventive suspension pending a criminal prosecution.
The antigraft court said “suspension of a public officer charged with an offense that is covered by Section 13 of R.A. No. 3019 is but a fortification of the principle that public office is a public trust.”
“They must at all times, be accountable to the people in the fulfillment of their duties,” the court said.
The graft case against Cerilles filed in 2012 stemmed from the Commission on Audit (COA) report which found anomalies in the purchase of common items from an exclusive distributor.
READ: Zamboanga del Sur lawmaker faces graft raps over medical supplies
The COA said at least P6.879 million worth of hospital supplies, such as green scrub suits, flat sheets, draw sheets, and abdominal bandages, were purchased from exclusive distributor U-Net, in violation of the rules.
This is in violation of the COA circular which only allows public officials to purchase items from exclusive distributors if there are no subdealers selling items at lower prices or there are no cheaper substitute items.
The Ombudsman said what the provincial government purchased from U-Net were common items. It added that the supplies need not be bought from an exclusive distributor because these need not be branded.
The Zamboanga del Sur provincial government could have saved P1.2 million if the purchases were made from another supplier in a public bidding, the Ombudsman said. Marc Jayson Cayabyab, INQUIRER.net/CDG