Ex-Tabuk mayor baffled on motion to suspend him

By Jeffrey Damicog

A former mayor of Tabuk, Kalinga is baffled as to why state prosecutors wanted to suspend him when he is no longer the town’s chief executive.

In an opposition to the motion of the prosecution to suspend “pendente lite” (while awaiting litigation) former Tabuk Mayor Camilo Lammawin Jr., his lawyer, Atty. Mona Liza Abibico, explained that under the law the suspension being sought is intended “to prevent the accused from influencing the witnesses and to prevent him or her from further committing the same acts.”

“The accused can no longer influence any witness or tamper with evidence as he is not anymore the Mayor of Tabuk City,” said Abibico in the opposition filed before the Sandiganbayan Third Division.

“Notedly, this case had been sitting with the Office of the Ombudsman for 10 long years,” cited Abibico.

The Ombudsman filed before the Sandiganbayan two counts of violating Section 3(b) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019) and two counts of direct bribery under Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code against Lammawin and his wife Salud.

Under the four cases, the couple were accused of extorting more than half a million pesos in 2002 when Lammawin was still mayor from Rodman Construction and Development Corp., a contractor for the Tabuk Water Supply Project.