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Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Maxey: To suspend or not to suspend
By Ram Maxey
Bar None
Under the circumstances, it would appear that the proposed caravan would be a futile exercise - much ado about nothing, despite a Spare Go spokesman's opinion that government officials are not covered by the ban on suspension.
A CARAVAN organized by the Sarangani People's Action for Reform and Good Government (Spare Go) is poised to wind its way from Alabel, the capital town of Sarangani Province, to the very doorstep of the Office of the Ombudsman for Mindanao in Davao City where it will stage a rally urging the anti-graft office to rule on the case Spare Go had filed against 30 elected officials and ranking employees of that province.
There must be a compelling reason for such a caravan to come all the way from, well - Sarangani Bay to Davao Gulf (look at your map) - just to stage a protest rally - without assurance of a favorable result. My personal interest in the case stems from the fact that in the turbulent 1960s (remember The Octopus Gang of Adan delas Marias?) I was elected as a member of the Alabel barangay council, my first and only political victory. Big deal.
Spare Go had filed graft charges last October against Sarangani governor Miguel Escobar and 29 other elected officials and high-ranking capitol employees, including Vice Gov. Felipe Constantino and some provincial board members in connection with the alleged anomalous release of P41 million to ghost cooperatives and fictitious beneficiaries.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had recommended last December the filing of the charges against those named in the charge sheet. Apart from the NBI, the Commission on Audit had reportedly found irregularities in the disbursement of provincial funds amounting to P41 million.
Spare Go has questioned Escobar's filing a petition before the Supreme Court preventing the Office of the Ombudsman from suspending them from office. Under the Omnibus Election Code, no government officials and employees and members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) may be suspended or transferred from office 90 days prior to an election. Moreover, last December 10 the Commission on Elections (Comelec) had reportedly issued a resolution prohibiting the suspension of government officials 147 days prior to the May 10 election.
Under the circumstances, it would appear that the proposed caravan would be a futile exercise - much ado about nothing, despite a Spare Go spokesman's opinion that government officials are not covered by the ban on suspension.
So, which is which, Mr. Ombudsman for Mindanao?
(February 17, 2004 issue)
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