Court proceedings will drag the suspension case against the entire La Trinidad Council.
Like and Recommend our facebook page
The hearing set by Jimmy Laking’s counsel lawyer Noe Villanueva, supposedly to suspend Vice Mayor Romeo Salda and Councilors Francis Lee, Jim Botiwey, Henry Kipas, Arthur Shontogan, Roderick Awingan, Horacio Ramos Jr., Estrella Adeban, Von Ryan Tauli and Robert Namoro, last December 16 was reset to January 31, 2012.
Regional Trial Court Judge Danilo Camacho gave in to the plea of lawyer for the local council Miller Quintin to give them 15 days to submit their comments on the suspension case. The judge likewise gave prosecution lawyers 10 days to answer moving the hearing date.
Villanueva is hoping for a speedy trial on January to put the case to a close.
The entire council faces suspension for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act where all of them pleaded not guilty a week ago.
The suspension will debilitate the entire legislative branch of the town, halting activities of the local government.
The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act provides officials facing graft charges to be temporarily suspended.
Laking filed a case against the officialdom after they unanimously declared him “persona non grata” in December 2010 for alleged biased reporting.
Governor Nestor Fongwan is hoping the suspension will not be for all Valley council members, saying this will create a problem for the province’s capital town.
There are no provisions for succession if the entire council is suspended leaving lone Youth Council president Brenden Quintos at the helm of the entire legislative branch without any council members. - (SunStar / by Ma. Elena Catajan)
0 comments:
Post a Comment