MANILA – Sandiganbayan slapped Caluya, Antique mayor Genevieve Lim-Reyes with a three-month suspension for illegally ordering a clearing operation in a coconut farmland.
In a resolution dated Aug. 10, the anti-graft court said Lim-Reyes violated Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019, or Anti-Graft and Corruption Practices Act.
Lim-Reyes unlawfully authorized the clearing operation in a 5-hectare coconut farmland in Sitio Poocan, Barangay Tinogboc, Caluya, the Sandiganbayan added.
The suspension was just a preventive measure as trial for the case was ongoing. It will be lifted if Lim-Reyes gets acquitted.
The clearing operation at the coconut plantation in February 2014 was done to pave the way for a housing project that will be used as a relocation site for residents from Sitio Sabang.
Later that year the Commission on Human Rights requested Lim-Reyes to stop all relocation, eviction and demolition activities due to lack of proper consultation with affected residents.
The mayor had also been slapped with a six-month suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman for oppression in relation to the clearing operation.
Oppression – also known as grave abuse of authority – is defined as “misdemeanor committed by a public officer, who under color of his office, wrongfully inflicts upon any person any bodily harm, imprisonment or other injury.”
The Ombudsman later filed before the Sandiganbayan one count of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and one count of violation of Section 5 of the same law in relation to Section 9 of the Coconut Preservation Act against Lim-Reyes./PN
