TIIAIIII

TITE NATTON'S I.EADING NDWSPAPEN

l,ETIIl
Monday, May 27,2019

Suspended Iligan so lon leaves fat€ to House leadership

Reelected ligan CltY ldne dishict
Reo. Ftederick Siao is leaving it up io the
House leadership whether !o ca.rry out the
sandiganbayan's 90-day suspension order
against him.
- "For nw;, the decision on how to deal
with the Sandiglanbayan preventive suspen-
sion order is wiih the House Speaker Gloria
Macapagal Aroyo who was givm frve days
!0 r€spond i0 the cout order to implement
' the suspension," Sho said in a statement'
"Until such time, I shall continue to dis-
charge my duties and r€sponsibilities as
dulv;bc6d ReDresentative of lligan City
said
House of Representatives. ' he
in tie
Friday the Sandiganbayan Third
Last
Division had ordered Siao suspended for
90 days in connection with the lease of gov-
ernmeni property to pri\8te companies in
2004, 2008, and 2013.
siao, who at that time was a councilor.
was charued for violating Section 3{e) ol
RA rots dttii-c*ft *d corrupt Practices
AcD.
"There is no need for any sort of pre-
ventive suspension because I am not in any
position t4 cause any tampering or loss of
ividence norpressuring of any personnel
of the City Council or of City Hall, because
T am not an incumbent member of the City
Council oflligan City Emphasis on the word
'preventive' because thaLis the supposed
aim of the suspension ordel" he said.
He said the preventive suspension or-
der "is now moot and academic because
the prosecution has already presented its
evidence and resied its case."
The iinplementation of suspension or-
ders from outside o{ Congress
to sitting lawmakers has always
been a sensitive issue because
congressmen and senators are
carefi.rl not to set a Pr€cedent.
Siao alluded to this, saYing
'T,{ote also ihat according to the
Rules of the House of Represen-
tatives, the authoritY to suspend
any Member rests with the entirt
body and must gain two-thirds
vote to be approved.
"Note further that ac-
cording to the House Rules.
the Housc cannot susPend
any of its Members for more
than 60 daYS, in contrast
to the 90 days suspension
the Sandiganbayan has or-
dered," he said.

' PAqe -.i'"