Saturday, May 06, 2006
Sandiganbayan junks mayor's appeal
THE Sandiganbayan junked an appeal filed by Koronadal City Mayor Fernando Miguel who was seeking a reversal of the court's earlier resolution suspending him for at least 90 days over his alleged involvement in an anomalous bidding for a proposed building project at the Koronadal public market 11 years ago.
In a decision dated March 27, Associate Justice Godofredo Legaspi of the anti-graft court's third division dismissed a motion for reconsideration filed by Miguel's lawyers in early February for lack of merit.
Legaspi upheld a decision he issued last January 25 placing Miguel under preventive suspension for 90 days pending the further litigation and issuance of a final ruling on charges of falsification of public documents and violation of the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act filed against him in 1995 by a previous batch of Municipal Council members.
Miguel himself admitted that he already received a copy of the Sandiganbayan's latest decision more than a week ago.
"My lawyers immediately filed a motion for certiorari at the Supreme Court," said the mayor, stressing he was "not worried at all" about the Sandiganbayan's decision.
Miguel reiterated that he is innocent of the charges filed against him and vowed to exhaust all available legal remedies to defend and eventually clear himself.
South Cotabato Governor Daisy Avance-Fuentes, who was earlier directed by the Sandiganbayan to implement the suspension order, said she could not yet act on the order since Miguel still has available legal remedies to utilize.
The charges against Miguel stemmed from the discovery of the Municipal Council regarding the alleged anomalous transactions entered into by the local government in 1995 during the bidding and awarding of a P2.385 million consultancy contract to a Manila-based firm.
The contract involves the preparation of an architectural and engineering design for a proposed public market building project worth P45.2 million. The project, which would have been funded through a loan from the National Government, did not push through. (Allen V. Estabillo)
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(May 1, 2006 issue)
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