(UPDATED WITH CORRECTION) THE Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Cebu City has suspended Florida P. Nuñez, now acting chief of Cebu 5th District Engineering Office, and three others for violating Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Presiding Judge Grace M. Veloso-Fernandez of the RTC Branch 19 ruled that Florida P. Nuñez, along with Rogelio N. Quibilan, Stephen Eric G. Castrodes, and Violeta Orbeta must “immediately cease and desist from performing the functions of their respective offices upon the implementation of this Order of Preventive Suspension.”
The Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office officially filed the case in September of 2022, when the officials allegedly connived “with deliberate intent and acting with manifest impartiality” in declaring P.B. Obial Construction post-disqualified from five government projects despite being declared as having the lowest bid.
PB Obial Construction filed a criminal complaint in June 2022 against Nuñez and five other officials and members of the Bids and Awards Committee of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Cebu City District Engineering Office.
The RTC order states that under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, “the suspension of a public officer is mandatory after a determination has been made of the validity of the Information.”
Nuñez and the three others mentioned in the order are suspended from service without pay, pending the resolution of the case pursuant to section 13 of RA 3019.
Nuñez filed an appeal to the motion to suspend her, however the court ruled that “the information charges all the accused with violation of section 3(e) of RA 3019,” conclude that the case involved a criminal prosecution.
The suspension will be for a period of 60 days from the receipt of the order from the RTC dated May 26, 2023. (EKV)
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Editor's Note: The BAC officials who were charged in June 2022 were those under the DPWH Cebu City District Engineering Office, not under the DPWH Cebu 5th District Engineering Office as mentioned earlier.