SUSPENDED / DE LIMA, LACIERDA FACE DISBARMENT
[PHOTO - Presidential adviser Nereus
Acosta said that he does not want the case to affect the LLDA and the Office of
the President.]
MANILA,
FEBRUARY 4, 2012 (STAR) By
Michael Punongbayan - The Sandiganbayan yesterday ordered Presidential Assistant
on Climate Change and Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) general manager
Nereus Acosta placed under 90-day preventive suspension for alleged misuse of
his pork barrel funds when he was a congressman representing Bukidnon.
The anti-graft court's Fourth Division directed the Office of the President
through Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and the LLDA Board of Directors to
implement the suspension of Acosta, who faces trial on charges of fraudulently
disbursing P10.5 million in pork barrel funds.
In a 10-page resolution, the court ordered Acosta to "cease and desist from
further performing and/or exercising the functions, duties, and privileges of
the positions he is currently occupying."
The decision was in response to a motion filed by Ombudsman prosecutors
Rabendranath Uy and Ireneo Paldeng urging the Sandiganbayan to implement the
mandatory suspension of any official charged under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt
Practices Act.
Government lawyers said Acosta should be temporarily removed from his post
"to prevent the accused public officer from hampering his prosecution by
intimidating or influencing a witness, tampering with documentary evidence, or
committing further acts of malfeasance."
The Sandiganbayan, in a ruling penned by Associate Justice Maria Cristina
Cornejo, junked Acosta's argument that being an alter ego of the President, he
could not be suspended.
"Only in matters pertaining to the department where he is assigned and where
the President is required by law to exercise authority. The alter ego principle
cannot be invoked with respect to acts committed by the public official
concerned before his appointment as such Cabinet member or one with the rank of
a Cabinet Secretary," the ruling read.
The Sandiganbayan said the criminal liability is personal to the offender and
cannot be transferred to another as in Acosta's case.
The anti-graft court added the alter ego argument raised by Acosta is
"erroneous" and "utterly bereft of legal basis."
"Accused may simply have ignored the fact that while he no longer holds
office where and by virtue of which the questioned acts were committed,
nevertheless, he remains to be a public official and not just a public official,
but one with a Cabinet rank and as such, logically continues to be with
influence," Cornejo said.
However, the suspension order against Acosta can still be appealed through
the filing of a motion for reconsideration by the accused 15 days after its
official receipt, the Sandiganbayan said.
If a motion for reconsideration is filed within the allowed period, the
anti-graft court said the suspension order would not be implemented until after
the appeal is resolved.
Acosta is accused of involvement in the allegedly illegal transfer of a Solar
Tunnel Dryer worth P2.5 million from the municipality of Talakag to Manolo
Fortich and its subsequent use and management by the Bukidnon Integrated Network
of Home Industries, Inc (BINHI) when he was still serving as representative of
the province.
He was also accused of releasing public funds to the same private entity in
the amount of P2.5 million and releasing public funds amounting to P5.5 million
to the Bukidnon Vegetables Producers Cooperative (BVPC), another private
entity.
FROM MANILA STANDARD
De Lima, Lacierda face disbarment by Rey E.
Requejo
THE Supreme Court on Friday ordered Justice Secretary Leila de
Lima and presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda to answer a petition
seeking their disbarment or suspension as lawyers for making contemptuous
remarks against Chief Justice Renato Corona and for violating their lawyer's
oath.
After deliberations by the entire court Tuesday, the justices voted to
require the two Cabinet secretaries to submit comments on a disbarment case
filed against them by private lawyer Agustin Sundiam.
De Lima and Lacierda were given 10 days to comply with the order.
In his petition filed on Jan. 16, Sundiam asked the Court to take
disciplinary action against De Lima and Lacierda for their "utterances and
remarks on national television which were bannered by all newspapers" in support
of President Benigno Aquino III's public bashing of the chief justice during a
criminal justice summit on Dec. 5.
The lawyer from Lubao, Pampanga, who represented retirees of the Government
Insurance Service Insurance System in a 2004 case before the high court, accused
the two secretaries of violating their oath as lawyers, the Code of Professional
Responsibility and the Rules of Court that require all lawyers to "observe and
maintain the respect and dignity due to the courts of justice and judicial
officers."
He cited De Lima's statement in December in which she described Corona as "a
tyrant who holds himself above justice and accountability."
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines has made a similar call to take
disciplinary action against De Lima.
De Lima promised to answer the complaint once she received an order from the
Court, but played down the allegation and said her remarks against the chief
justice were part of her constitutional right to free expression.
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
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