MANILA – A lower court ordered the woman governor in the Visayas to return the equivalent of $2 million to her impoverished province, which represented payments for the purchase of medicines and other items.
Ordered to return the amount by the Regional Trial Court of Calbayog City was Governor Milagrosa Tan of Samar in the Visayas and four other provincial officials.
In addition, the court also cited Tan and the other officials for contempt for which they were ordered to pay a fine of $600 each.
The court pointed out their contempt citation arose from the decision of Tan and her co-accused to defy at least two temporary restraining orders (TROs) issued on July 7 and 17 to stop them from holding a public bidding for the medicines and other items.
The court emphasized: “The respondents clearly committed acts which brought the authority of the court and the administration of law into disrespect or which belittled, degraded, obstructed and embarrassed this court.”
Reports are that Tan is to run for a seat in the House of Representatives, now occupied by her daughter Sharee Ann, in the May 2010 elections.
The deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy as ordered by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is on December 1.
The case against Tan arose from the petition filed by the Samar vice governor and an anti-corruption watchdog in the province, which asked the court to stop the provincial government from conducting a public bidding for the medicines, construction materials and other items.
The court pointed out it issued two TROs dated July 7 and July 16, based on the argument of the petitioners that the provincial government of Samar, considered as one of the country’s 20 poorest provinces, did not allocate any amount for such purchases.
But while the TROs were in effect, the court said Tan and the other officials defied the order and proceeded with the public bidding and paid $2 million to the winning bidders.
The court cited a Supreme Court decision which ruled that an injunction or restraining order remains in effect until it is overturned by the court.
In this case, the court emphasized the two TROs it had issued were still in effect as there were no judicial orders for their lifting.
Tan was also accused of alleged violation of the country’s Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act before the office of the Ombudsman for spending $30,000 from the provincial calamity fund for the purchase of supplies supposedly for the typhoon victims.
But the trouble was, the amount was spent long after the typhoon had gone, according to government lawyers.
As a result, the Department of Interior and Local Government imposed a 90-day preventive suspension on Tan in 2008.
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