Prosecutors seek Biazon’s suspension over pork barrel scam

STATE prosecutors asked the Sandiganbayan to suspend former customs commissioner and now Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon as he faces malversation, graft and direct bribery charges for his alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.

In a motion to suspend pendente lite filed before the anti-graft court Seventh Division, the Office of the Special Prosecutor cited the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which states that an accused with a valid information of graft or violation of the Revised Penal Code involving fraud of government funds should be placed under preventive suspension.

According to Section 13 of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, public officials charged with a valid information of graft or violation of the Revised Penal Code involving fraud of government funds will be preventively suspended from office and will lose his or her benefits at the time of his or her suspension.

Biazon was arraigned on Sept. 6 and pleaded not guilty to pork charges.

READ: Biazon pleads not guilty to pork barrel scam raps

“With the arraignment of all of the said accused public officers, the validity of the information filed against them is no longer in question. The prosecution, most respectfully, posits that suspension must follow as a matter of course,” the prosecution said.

The prosecution gave this explanation:

“Accused’s continued stay in office may frustrate the prosecution of the crime, if not prejudice the cases, filed against them. To prevent the accused from committing further acts of malfeasance while in office, or tamper with documentary evidence and intimidate or influence witnesses in the case, it is necessary that the accused be suspended from office while the case is pending in court.”

The prosecution also sought the preventive suspension of Biazon’s co-accused dismissed Budget Undersecretary Mario Relampagos, and his staff Marilou Bare, Rosario Nunez and Lalaine Paule.

READ: Biazon seeks dismissal of pork barrel scam cases

Biazon faces one count each of malversation, graft and direct bribery against Biazon for his alleged criminal activities as Muntinlupa representative in 2007 in connection with the Janet Lim-Napoles pork barrel scam.

Biazon is an ally of erstwhile President Benigno Aquino III in the Liberal Party. He resigned as customs commissioner in 2013 after the Department of Justice included him in the pork barrel scam complaint.

Charged with Biazon was his alleged agent, former Energy Regulatory Commission chair Zenaida Ducut, also a former Pampanga representative, who supposedly acted as an agent for Napoles in the House of Representatives.

Ducut was said to have toured Napoles in the House of Representatives, according to whistleblower Merlina Suñas.

READ: Lady solon accompanied Napoles during House pork ‘rounds’—witness

According to the malversation charge, Biazon with Ducut “willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously appropriate, take, misappropriate, and or allow Napoles to take public funds” worth P2.7 million.

Biazon allegedly misappropriated P3 million of his Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) to Napoles’ bogus foundation, Philippine Social Development Foundation (PSDFI), which implemented Biazon’s pork barrel funds intended for livelihood projects for the barangays (villages) of Muntinlupa.

Biazon and his respondents were also charged with violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for causing undue injury to government in coursing his pork barrel funds to the spurious foundation without public bidding, committing evident bad faith, manifest partiality, and gross inexcusable negligence.

The project using Biazon’s PDAF turned out to be non-existent.

According to the prosecution, Biazon and his co-accused “appropriated, took, misappropriated, and/or allowed Napoles and her cohorts, through PSDFI, to take possession and thus misappropriate PDAF-drawn public funds instead of implementing the PDAF-funded projects, which turned out to be non-existent.”

Biazon was also charged with direct bribery for allegedly receiving P1.95 million from Napoles in exchange for his endorsement of her nongovernment organization to receive his pork barrel funds.

The prosecution added that “Biazon, through Ducut, received commissions and/or ‘kickbacks’ from Napoles in consideration of his participation and collaboration” in the scam.

The prosecutors said Biazon endorsed the foundation to the implementing agency which was supposed to implement the project without conducting a public bidding.

They said Biazon chose the implementing agency Technology Resource Center (TRC) to course his PDAF to the bogus foundation./rga

READ: Biazon, four others face malversation, graft raps over pork barrel scam