By Romeo Mataac Jr. |
| Marinduque Gov. Carmencita O. Reyes |
The Sandiganbayan Second Division has ordered the preventive suspension of Marinduque Governor Carmencita Reyes over her involvement in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam.
In a resolution dated October 13, the graft court granted the motion of state prosecutors and ordered “the suspension pendente lite of Carmencita O. Reyes as Provincial Governor of Marinduque, and from any other position which she may now or hereafter be holding, for a period of sixty days.”
The graft court also sent a copy of the resolution to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) which was directed to implement the suspension order.
The cases against Reyes stemmed from her alleged involvement in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam where the funds supposedly for agricultural assistance for poor farmers were allegedly diverted as campaign kitty of then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the 2004 elections.
Under the cases against her, Reyes allegedly approved the purchase of P5 million-worth of equipment and fertilizers under the Arroyo administration’s “Ginintuang Masaganang Ani Program” from a private supplier without holding the required public bidding.