THE Sandiganbayan suspended Davao del Sur Vice Governor Marc Douglas Cagas IV for 90 days following the graft and malversation charges filed against him for the alleged Personal Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.
In a 10-page December 3 Resolution, Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang placed Cagas under preventive suspension due to the charges against him for allegedly transferring P7.55 million of his PDAF to entities owned by alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Napoles.
The collegial court also directed the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to carry out such order.
"The secretary of DILG is requested to inform the Court of the action taken thereon within five days from the implementation of the suspension," the resolution stated.
The anti-graft court slapped two counts each of graft and malversation of public funds against Cagas for allegedly funneling his P6 million of his PDAF into Farmerbusiness Development Corp, a non-government organization, using Technology Resource Center (TRC), a government-owned or controlled corporation as a conduit.
In his comment/explanation dated September 18, 2020, Cagas contended that he should not be suspended since he cannot influence the probe.
The vice-governor argued that in case of Crespo vs Mogul, the courts are given the "exclusive direction" regarding any dispassion of the case filed before it, and this discretion allegedly includes sparing him from the sweeping imposition of suspension pendente lite.
He also contended that placing him under preventive suspension will no longer serve its purpose considering that the opportunity of tampering the subject documents or influencing the possible witnesses in these cases would not do him any benefit allegedly because other than the Memorandum of Agreement and Letter of Endorsement, all the other documents pertaining to the questioned transactions were not signed by him but by the concerned officers or personnel of the Department of Budget and Management, Technology Resource Center, National Agribusiness Corporation and the representatives of the subject non-government organizations, namely Progress and Development Foundation Inc. and Social Development Program for Farmers Foundation Inc.
Cagas said the documents being referred to may no longer be tampered considering that they were already pre-marked and made part of court records.
Sandiganbayan, however, thumbed down Cagas's claims.
"While he is aware of the mandatory character of Section 13 of RA No. 3019, he submits that since there are two doctrines allegedly applicable to him, the other being the Crespo vs Miguel doctrine, the one that is most favourable to him, must therefore, be adopted," the anti-graft court said.
"Wherefore, the Court hereby orders the suspension pendente lite of accused Marc Douglas Chan Cagas IV as Vice-Governor of Davao Del Sur and from any other public positions he may now or hereafter hold for a period of 90 days immediately from receipt of this resolution," the court added.
Cagas has not issued any statement as of the writing of this story Tuesday, December 8.
Cagas's suspension will be automatically lifted upon the expiration of the 90-day period from the implementation of the resolution.
The resolution states that the Sandiganbayan stressed that the courts have the duty to place an accused under preventive suspension pursuant to Section 13 of Republic Act (RA) 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Section 13 of RA 3019, as amended, states that "any incumbent public officer against whom any criminal prosecution under a valid information under this Act or under Title 7, Book II of the Revised Penal Code or for any offense involving fraud upon government or public funds or property whether as a simple or as a complex offense and in whatever stage of execution and mode of participation, is pending in court, shall be suspended from office."
In addition, "should he be convicted by final judgment, he shall lose all retirement or gratuity benefits under any law, but if he is acquitted, he shall be entitled to reinstatement and to the salaries and benefits which he failed to receive during suspension, unless in the meantime administrative proceedings have been filed against him."
PDAF, also known as "pork barrel," is a lump-sum discretionary fund granted to each member of Congress for spending on priority development projects of the Philippine government, mostly on the national level.
The PDAF scam was discovered in 2013, involving the alleged misuse by several members of the Congress.
An estimated P10 billion was defrauded in the course of the scam, having been diverted to Napoles, participating members of Congress and other government officials.