MANILA - Former actor and incumbent Quezon City Councilor Roderick Paulate was handed a 90-day preventive suspension order by the Sandiganbayan 7th Division in connection with graft and falsification cases stemming from the alleged hiring of ghost employees.

In a resolution adopted on March 11, the anti-graft court stated that the suspension is mandatory under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, despite the argument of Paulate that under the Local Government Code, preventive suspension within 90 days before a local election is prohibited.

The court stressed that the prohibition only applies to administrative cases and not to criminal cases which Paulate, who is running for Vice Mayor, is facing at the Sandiganbayan.

Also, in his comment submitted to the court, Paulate said that his case is in already in the pre-trial stage and there is nothing that could be influenced since the Ombudsman is already done with the investigation of the case.

“We should also not lose sight of the fact that accused Paulate is an incumbent elected official and logically possesses influence. 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 in the resolution penned by Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeses, with the concurrence of Division Chairperson Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta and Associate Justice Georgina Hidalgo.

Paulate is facing one count of graft, one count of falsification by a public officer and eight counts of falsification of public documents.

He supposedly had recommended to the Office of the Vice Mayor the hiring of 30 people for contractual employment but turned out to be ghost employees, causing undue injury to the government in the total amount of P1.1 million in 5 months.

Paulate also argued in his comment that the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman to dismiss him in connection with his administrative case was reversed by the Court of Appeals and has attained finality.

“It is settled that an administrative case filed before the Office of the Ombudsman and the criminal case before the trial court are separate and distinct from each other even if they arise from the same act or omission,” the court said.

The court issued a copy of the resolution to the Department of Interior and Local Government for the implementation of the suspension order.