NEWSFLASH

SUPREME COURT RE-INSTATES PAMPANGA GOVERNOR LAPID

Baguio City, April 6, 2000 - Suspended Pampanga Gov. Manuel "Lito" Lapid was ordered reinstated yesterday by the Supreme Court, which overturned an Ombudsman and Dept of Interior and Local Government directive suspending Lapid for one year.

Lapid’s suspension by the DILG was recommended by Ombudsman Aniano Desierto last March 22 for Lapid's alleged involvement in the collection of exorbitant fees from quarrying operators that totaled P20 million.

The High Court's third division said the Ombudsman and the DILG "failed to establish the existence of a law mandating the immediate execution of a decision of the Ombudsman in an administrative case where the penalty imposed is suspension for one year."

"My family and I are very, very happy. I will go home (to Pampanga) and report to my constituents tomorrow. I thank God above all, and my supporters in Pampanga who stood by me," actor-politician Lito Lapid said in a telephone interview from Baguio City where the Supreme Court is holding its summer sessions.

The High Court branded the suspension order, as well as the Court of Appeals' decision to deny Lapid's request to nullify the suspension, as "immature."

Lapid's reinstatement, however, does not mean total clerance for the Pampanga governor. The Supreme Court has tossed back Lapid's request to the Court of Appeals which could either affirm its earlier ruling or grant Lapid's plea.

The tribunal directed the appellate court to resolve Lapid's appeal "with utmost deliberate dispatch." "This is without prejudice to the promulgation of an extended decision," it added.