The 7th Division of the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan ordered the 90-day suspension Quezon City 2nd District Councilor Roderick Paulate due to his pending graft case.
The comedian-turned-politician has been ordered to be suspended from public office for allegedly having 30 ghost employees on his city council’s payroll, reported Rappler.
Paulate is accused of pocketing P1.109 million in taxpayers’ money from July to November 2010 by claiming the huge of money was intended for the salaries of 30 non-existent employees.
“Accused Roderick Mendenilla Paulate is hereby ordered suspended from office and…is directed to cease and desist from further performing and/or exercising the functions, duties, and privilege of his position as Member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Quezon City,” the Sandiganbayan said.
Aside from his graft case, Paulate is also facing multiple counts of falsification of public documents.
However, Paulate argued with the Sandiganbayan’s decision saying that “the Court of Appeals reversed the Office of the Ombudsman’s ruling against him in a related administrative case as there was insufficient evidence.”
He also said that the suspension is useless since the Ombudsman’s investigation on his graft case has been completed.
Paulate, who is running for Quezon City vice mayor this coming midterm elections, also pointed out the Local Government Code of 1991, which “prohibits suspension of local officials 90 days before election.”
However, the Sandiganbayan cited Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which mandates the suspension of public officials facing corruption charges.
“This is a reality that we cannot ignore, hence, the legal presumption that unless the accused is suspended, he may frustrate his prosecution or commit further acts of malfeasance or do both,” the court said.
